


Connected

by Dreamshaper



Category: Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
Genre: F/F, and a lot of me nerding out, sorry in advance lol, this is a fluffy love story, with just a tiny bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28069695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamshaper/pseuds/Dreamshaper
Summary: Helena and Dinah meet in their favourite online game. What starts with questing together and friendship might soon turn into something else.
Relationships: Helena Bertinelli/Dinah Lance
Comments: 112
Kudos: 61





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a giant nerd. (Surprise anyone?) So I had to write this, I apologize for any overly nerdy stuff in this xD

If there is one thing Helena finds more annoying than anything else in the world, it’s a prolonged loading screen of her favourite game.

She sighs as she leans back in her chair, staring at the screen and the little circle rotating in the bottom left corner, signalling that it is still loading; it has been doing so for a while, but then, she tells herself, it is patch day, and it always takes longer to load on patch day.

Tapping the armrests of her chair, Helena grumbles as it keeps loading, but finally, she’s on the character select screen; there’s only character there, her brother often teases her with how much that character actually looks like her, pointing out that games like this one are supposed to escapism and how that works out for her if she basically plays herself.

At least, loading the character doesn’t take that long, and finally, she appears in the bustling city she has logged out at the previous evening.

_ Yo Huntress! _

_ HUNTRESS HI _

_ Hey there _

_ Evening Huntress _

As always, a wave of greetings from her guild mates floods the chat, and she smiles to herself - she’s not very good in social situations outside of the game, but she’s known and liked here, has played with some of these people for years, and while she never has met any of them face to face, she considers them her friends.

Another thing her brother teases her about, but she doesn’t let that bother her, she knows others might find this weird, but she hasn’t cared what others think about her for all of her twenty-four years of life, and she won’t start doing so now.

_ Evening guys _ , she writes back once the wave of greetings is slowing down,  _ anyone doing dungeon runs? _

Helena never has to wait long to get invited to such a run, her guild mates know she’s one of the better damage dealers they have; and it doesn’t take long tonight, either, she quickly gets invited to a dungeon run she’s wanted to do again anyway, eager to get some of the gear which drops from the boss of said dungeon. 

The other three add her to the group, and she uses the function which sends her to the group leader; just when she gets out of that loading screen though, one of the others sends a string of curses to the chat, then lets them know he has to go and is offline not even a minute later.

_ Well shit _ , Helena writes, frowning, figuring they can find someone else to join in the guild, but they will lose valuable time,  _ three people run? Or find a fourth? _

_ I got someone who’s interested _ , their tank lets them know, a ridiculously bulky orc character Helena only knows as Marzogor the Destroyer, but then, none of them know her real name either, she’s Huntress to them and never Helena,  _ from my friend list, mage, good at it. _

They all are quick to agree, the run can be done with three people, but it’s going to be easier with four; and as they wait at the dungeon’s beginning, Helena checks her gear and skills and buffs, making sure she’s properly prepared for the run, she has done it before, but she doesn’t want to make a mess of things and ruin everything for the group.

_ Black Canary has joined the group _ , the game informs her just when she gets done with that, and the new addition does join them, using the same function as Helena; just from her gear, Helena can tell she’s indeed a mage, not sure if she’s a healer or a damage dealer, but they can use both, so she figures it’s good either way.

The character gives a little wave as the new member writes a greeting into the chat; they all take a moment to greet her in return, then Helena asks if everyone is ready and inquires if Black Canary is a healer or a damage dealer, smirking when the response informs her that she can do both.

_ We’ve done this run couple of times _ , she types, fingers moving quickly over the keyboard,  _ so we probably won’t need a healer but good if you can do that, too. _

_ I’ll keep an eye on your guys’ hitpoints _ , Black Canary promises in response, then they start the run; and Helena quickly realizes that the player behind Canary is good at what she does, she does keep an eye on the other three and heals them whenever necessary, but dishes out good damage, as well, clearly very skilled at the mage class she’s playing.

They all are good at this, and so, they quickly make their way through the dungeon and to the final boss; it doesn’t take long until said boss goes down, Helena grumbling to herself when the loot doesn’t yield any of the gear she wants, but then, she figures, they can just run it again at some point, perhaps she’ll be luckier then.

_ Good game _ , she types into the chat, the others echoing her sentiment; and a moment later, the alert that a new friend request has come in chimes up, and she glances at the notification, smiling a bit at what it says.

**Black Canary wants to be your friend** , the game tells her, and Helena doesn’t think twice before clicking “accept”, the player is good at the class and it can never hurt to have another damage dealer who can help out; the character does a thumbs up and Helena finds herself smiling again, making her own avatar wave before she lets the rest of the group know she has some quests to do now.

_ Later _ , one of her guild mates replies, and Helena writes back in kind before she leaves the group, then the area; she travels to where she has her quests to do, reading along with the guild chat as she plays, sending short comments every now and then, but keeping her main focus on the game.

As always when she plays, time seems to fly by, and soon, it’s getting late, and thus time for her to go to bed; she writes a quick goodbye to her guild, then takes a few more minutes to travel into the next town so she won’t be in danger of spawning right next to some enemies the next time she logs in, yawning by the time she arrives there and logs out of the game.

Holding back another yawn, Helena makes her way to the bathroom, and goes through her evening route there, brushing her teeth and washing her face; then, she returns to her bedroom and changes into her pyjama, getting comfortable in bed as she grabs the book from her nightstand, as always reading a few pages before going to sleep.

It’s a day like every other day in her life, and she has no idea how much is going to change for her soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Helena barely has been online for five minutes in the next evening when a familiar username whispers her, and she raises her brows, she hasn’t thought much about it when she has accepted the friend request, people try to fill their friend lists up all the time in this game, but it’s rare that one of those actually writes to her in private like this.

_ Black Canary: Hey! How’re you doing? _

Usually, Helena isn’t one for small talk like this during her gaming time, her guild mates often seem to spend hours just talking about movies and books and TV shows instead of actually playing, and she prefers to spend her time in the game with the actual gameplay; something about this feels different though, she’s not quite sure why, but it does, and so, she finds herself answering before she can overthink it and stop herself.

_ Huntress: I’m good. You? _

_ Black Canary: Good too, thx. I love your name btw, really cool. _

Helena raises her eyebrows at this, usually, when she gets comments about her characters name, it’s the question how long she has been playing this already that she has managed to score the name  _ Huntress _ without the need to add any numbers, substitute letters for numbers or symbols or do any of the other things people try when the name they want this is taken, but she can’t remember anyone ever having told her that her name is simply cool.

_ Huntress: Thank you.  _

She’s not sure what else to write, feeling awkward now even though this isn’t even an interaction in person; for a moment, Helena figures this will be it, she hasn’t really given the other player much incentive to keep talking to her, but a new message does come, and just after a few seconds. 

_ Black Canary: You busy? If not, I could use some help taking down one of the big world boss guys over here. _

A quick glance at her friend list shows Helena where Black Canary is right now in the game’s world, it’s an area she’s done with, having finished all the quests there and having defeated all the bosses, but she figures she has time to help out, and since she’s taken the world boss in question down before, she knows the mechanics and what to look out for in the fight.

_ Huntress: Sure. Let’s make a group, then I can port to you. _

The group invitation pops up on her screen two seconds later, and she quickly accepts it; using the port function brings her to the wayshrine nearest to Black Canary, and as she doesn’t want to let her wait for too long, she summons her mount, a massive black zombie horse which often gets her comments from other players, as it is somewhat rare, only having been available during an event a few years ago.

At least, it’s not far to where the enemy in question is waiting, and so is Black Canary when Helena arrives there; the character gives a little wave as Helena has her own avatar dismount, another whisper popping up on her screen a second later.

_ Black Canary: That was fast. Also, badass mount, you get that during the zombie event? _

_ Huntress: Yeah. Shitton of farming, but it was worth it. _

The character on screen reacts with laughing out loud, and Helena finds herself smiling as well; she has her own avatar shrug, and that earns her more laughter, then the other player seems to remember why they have met here, as the avatar turns towards the massive troll lumbering around in the distance.

_ Black Canary: You ready? You’ve taken him down before? _

_ Huntress: Yes and yes. You’ll want to get out of the way when he starts raising his fists, he pounds the ground and rocks fly everywhere. _

_ Black Canary: Thx for the tip. Let’s kick his ugly ass. _

Helena smirks at that, and responds by running towards the troll, pulling out her weapon as she does; Black Canary follows suit a few seconds later, her mage staff readied as well, and starts the fight by blasting the troll with a lightning strike, Helena quickly starting to fire off arrows, keeping an eye on her skills as they fight, making good use of them for additional damage.

She’s never played a mage character, but she once again can tell that the person behind Black Canary is good at it, using a variety of skills as well and healing both Helena and herself whenever necessary; Helena knows she can’t know for sure that the player is female, but after years of gaming, she’s learned that male gamers tend to dress up female characters in the sexiest armour they can find, and whenever a female avatar is dressed sensibly, it’s usually a woman, and with the long, flowing robes Black Canary is wearing, Helena is quite sure the person behind the character is female, as well.

The troll’s health bar goes down quite fast, considering it’s just the two of them fighting him, and they both do get out of the way when he gears up for his rock throwing attack; not long after that, he goes down, and Helena finds herself smiling when Black Canary raises her arms and lets out a “whooo!” on screen.

_ Black Canary: Thanks so much. I’ve been trying to take this asshole down for days, couldn’t have done it without you. _

_ Huntress: You’re welcome. That guy is tough to take down solo, needed a few tries before I pulled that off. _

_ Black Canary: Why am I not surprised you solo’d him? _

Helena shrugs before she realizes the other player can’t actually see her, just her avatar, and so, she makes the avatar shrug; then, she links the flame staff the troll has dropped into their chat and asks Black Canary if she wants it, the character cheering again in response.

_ Black Canary: I got nothing I can offer in return though, he only dropped heavy armour for me. You want gold for that instead? _

_ Huntress: Nah, you can have it, no need to give me anything. _

_ Black Canary: Thanks a bunch! _

Helena feels a bit weird typing “you’re welcome” again, but she doesn’t know what else to say; and suddenly, she feels the strange need to spend more time with this player, she has friends among her guild mates, but when she’s not doing dungeon runs, she prefers playing solo, so this sudden urge is a new and strange feeling for her.

_ Black Canary: There’s a delve I didn’t play through yet not far from here, I was planning to go there next. You wanna come? It’s okay if not, no worries. _

_ Huntress: Sure, I’ll come. Maybe we’ll find a robe to go with that new staff of yours. :-) _

_ Black Canary: lol, yeah. I’d say, or maybe a new bow for you, but I got the feeling the one you have now is better than anything which might drop in a delve. _

_ Huntress: Yeeeaaah I got it from the new raid in Greymoor so… yeah. _

_ Black Canary: Yeeaah lol. Thanks for coming along anyway then, I appreciate it. I could do it alone, but it’s more fun with nice company. ;-) _

_ Huntress: No problem. Shall we? _

Black Canary summons her mount in response, prompting Helena to do the same; and as they ride to the delve together side by side, she feels oddly warm again, telling herself not to be ridiculous, it’s just gaming with another person, something she doesn’t do often, but she has done it before.

It never has made her feel so warm inside though, and the feeling doesn’t stop, no matter how hard she tries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah Helena, it's just gaming... XD  
> Also, the mount Helena has is based on the one I use in Elder Scrolls Online, and which I am unhealthily attached to. His name's Surströmming. XD


	3. Chapter 3

**Black Canary has logged in.**

_ Black Canary: Evening Huntress! How’s it going? _

_ Huntress: Good, thanks. You? _

_ Black Canary: Eh, work was tiring, but I’m home now and online, so it’s all good. Thanks again for your help yesterday. _

_ Huntress: You’re welcome. _

Dinah smiles and shakes her head at the screen, just like in real life, she tends to be talkative in game; this person named Huntress seems to be the exact opposite, her answers usually short and on point, but she has helped her out the previous evening, so Dinah figures the short answers don’t mean she’s annoyed by her.

_ Huntress: Hey, we’re gonna run the twelve person trial in Elsweyr and need a few more damage dealers, you wanna come? _

This, Dina figures, has to be a clear sign that Huntress isn’t annoyed by her, she certainly wouldn’t invite her to this if she were; and all at once, she feels nervous, she has been playing for a while and she knows she’s not bad, but she never has run that trial before, and now, she’s worried about messing up and pissing Huntress off, clearly, the woman is one of the better players in the game.

_ Black Canary: Sure, I gotta warn you though, I’ve never run that before, I might fuck it up. _

_ Huntress: Nah, you’ll do fine, no worries, bunch of us have run it before, and you’re not the only one who hasn’t. We’ll explain everything. _

_ Black Canary: Ok then, I’m in! _

**Huntress has invited you into a group.**

Dinah still feels nervous as she accepts the invitation and ports to the rest of the group; there’s a few tanks and healers already, and she feels a bit better when Huntress’ character moves over to hers the moment she’s loaded into the area and gives her a little wave.

_ Okay guys _ , Huntress writes into the group chat next, apparently, she is the raid leader, and Dinah can’t say she’s surprised,  _ first boss three rooms from here, just regular mobs on the way there, so that should go fine. Let the tanks go in first anyway, healers you keep your eyes on the tanks, damage dealers you try to take care of yourselves, we need the heals for the tanks. Canary, you do damage dealer for now. _

_ Okay _ , Dinah writes, and realizes that her palms are sweaty; she rolls her eyes at herself, reminding herself that this is a video game and not a life and death situation, but then, she is playing with real people, and she doesn’t want to annoy of those by messing up, and especially not Huntress, not after how helpful the woman has been the other day.

The group gets moving, and as Huntress has predicted, the first rooms are no problem; there’s quite a few enemies, more than Dinah is used to, but they are twelve people, all maximum level or close to it and with good gear, so those groups of enemies aren’t really a danger to them. 

Then, they arrive at the first boss, and Dinah feels nervous again; to her relief, she seems to do a good job though, she doesn’t get close to dying and figures she does good damage, as well, something which is confirmed once the boss goes down and Huntress lets the group know they all have done good and to keep it up.

To her relief, the rest of the run goes just as smoothly, she does need to heal herself a few times and ends up healing others too when it seems as if they are close to dying; and when the final boss drops dead, she feels quite relieved and excited, she’s never run such a trial before and she’s happy her first try has worked out so well. 

_ Huntress: Good job. Now we’ll all post the loot we got and trade amongst each other. _

_ Black Canary: Sounds good, I got mostly heavy armour again, I think this game hates me -_- _

_ Huntress: Lol. Lookie here. _

A second later, Huntress posts a robe to the group chat which makes Dinah go “oooh” out loud, it’s much better than the one she currently has; and to her happiness, no one else wants it, so she gets it from Huntress, while she in turn hands some of the armour over to one of the tanks, laughing at her screen when the bulky orc character does a little dance on screen afterwards.

**Huntress has invited you to join the guild Knights of Tamriel.**

This actually makes Dinah gasp out loud, that guild is well known across the server and she truly hasn’t expected to be invited after just one good run; she’s quick to accept though, and immediately, a wave of greetings floods the chat, and she feels oddly warm inside at the sight, once more having to remind herself that this is a video game.

_ Black Canary: Shit, warn me the next time before you do that. I might have just squealed at my computer. _

_ Huntress: :D Sorry. Welcome to the Knights. _

_ Black Canary: Thanks. I’ll try not to fuck up so you guys won’t have to kick me again, lol. _

_ Huntress: You did good during the trial, so no worries. _

Dinah smiles at the screen and has her character do a thumbs up; she giggles when Huntress reacts the same way, for a moment tempted to ask her if they should do something else together, but then, she doesn’t want to appear clingy or needy, she has played a lot of this on her own and knows she can keep doing so, and while she enjoys playing together with Huntress, she figures the person behind the character her stuff of their own to do.

As if to confirm her thoughts, the group is disbanded and people start porting away; Dinah does the same, using one of her houses as destination, still feeling giddy by the time the place has loaded.

She takes another proud look at her new robe, it does have much better stats than her current one, and works well with the staff she’s gotten the other day; she makes a mental note to repay Huntress some way, but as she’s in the same guild now, she figures she’ll get to do more trials and raids, and hopefully, something good for Huntress will drop during one of those, so Dinah can give her something as well. 

For now, she decides she’s had enough excitement with the trial, and that she’ll just do some smaller quests now, as those are usually easy to handle; she’s tempted to write to Huntress again, but tells herself not to, she really doesn’t want to appear clingy to the other player, especially not after she’s been invited to join the guild.

So, Dinah reads along with the guild chat instead of whispering Huntress, and comments every now and then; and one of those comments gets her a  _ lol _ from Huntress, and that makes her feel quite giddy again, no matter how vehemently she reminds herself that she knows nothing about this person and that this is just a game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now Dinah feels it, too. x)


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh my God”, Pino declares as he strides into the room Helena uses as both her office and for entertainment, “you’re in this game  _ again _ ? Do you ever do anything else these days?”

“Shush”, Helena responds, having flinched at his unexpected entrance and glaring at him before she focuses on the screen again, “we’re at a boss fight, don’t distract me. And yes, I do, I’ve been working all day, but you know that.”

“Yeah”, Pino has to concede, he does know that, “but you’ve been staring at that screen all day and now you stare at a different one to play this, that can’t be good for your eyes. Come on, I’m meeting some friends for drinks, come along.”

Helena rolls her eyes, keeping her focus on the screen as they are still in the fight; to her dismay, Pino doesn’t just leave, but remains where he is and watches until the boss drops, and Helena holds back a sigh as she types “brb” into the chat, then turns to face her brother.

“I appreciate the offer”, she tells him, and he rolls his eyes, knowing this is the tone she usually uses when she talks to annoying clients on the phone, “but you know most of those places aren’t made for me, so no thanks.”

“Come on”, her brother isn’t willing to give up so fast, and now it’s her turn to roll her eyes, even though she knows he means well, “you should get out more, you spend all your time cooped up in here. Just give it a try, we’re a funny bunch, you’ll have fun, I promise.”

“Maybe another time”, Helena diplomatically replies, and Pino sighs, as he knows very well there won’t be another time; he also knows he won’t change her mind though, and so, he just tells her to “have fun with her fellow nerds”, then heads out, and for a moment, Helena feels bad for having declined again.

It’s not the first time he asks her, and she figures it won’t be the last, even though she keeps declining; she knows he means well, and she knows he’s right about her spending all her time cooped up in the house, but she’s also pretty sure she wouldn’t fit in with his friends, and she figures it’s better that way.

“Back”, she types into the group chat, luckily, they have been at the final boss fight, so she hasn’t made anyone wait for her and halting progress of the others; several of the others type “wb”, and they go back to dividing up the loot, Helena hasn’t gotten anything good from that run, but she does have stuff she can give to the others, so she figures it hasn’t been for nothing.

As they all port out of the dungeon, she finds herself wondering what Black Canary is up to, there have been a few messages from her in the guild chat, but she hasn’t joined the raid when they have asked if someone wants to come; and even though it makes her feel a bit like a stalker, Helena checks her friend list, seeing that Canary is on the map where they have played together before, and she clicks the Whisper To button before she can stop herself. 

_ Huntress: Hey. How’s it going? _

_ Black Canary: Hi! Good, thanks. For you? _

_ Huntress: Good too. Just wanted to check in, we just got done with the raid. _

_ Black Canary: Aw :-) I figured you’re busy with that, and I don’t wanna annoy you, so I kept quiet for once, lol. _

_ Huntress: No worries :-) You taking down more bosses over there? I got time now if you want support. _

_ Black Canary: Oh awesome, I still need two more to have them all on this map, I’d appreciate the help.  _

_ Huntress: On my way. _

Helena finds herself smiling as she invites Black Canary to a group, making finding her easier; and once the other player has accepted, she ports to her, smirking when she sees her wearing the robe she has given her after their first trial together.

_ Huntress: Robe looks good. It works for you? _

_ Black Canary: Ha, it’s awesome, my magicka regenerates way faster now, which is a plus for a mage. Thanks again for giving that to me. _

_ Huntress: You’re welcome, glad it works well for you. Lead the way? _

They both summon their mounts, and Black Canary does, Helena following along behind her; she knows where the bosses are located on this map, but she doesn’t know which ones Canary still needs, so she just trails along, until they reach another one of the bosses, stopping at a safe distance.

_ Black Canary: There we are. Any tips for this one? _

_ Huntress: Nah, it’s quite straight forward. Just blast it with as many fireballs as you can until it goes down. _

_ Black Canary: lol, will do. Ready? _

_ Huntress: Ready. _

She attacks first, so that the creature’s attention will be on her; she’s not a tank, either, but she figures she can take more damage than Canary, from their armour alone, as an archer, she’s using medium armour while Canary’s mage is dressed in light armour, and she knows the other player can heal her in case she does take too much damage.

As it is, they make a good team again, the health bar of the boss rapidly diminishing; at one point, Helena takes quite a bit of damage, but Black Canary is quick to heal her back up, and they manage to take the boss down without either of them dying.

Black Canary cheers again as the creature goes down, Helena smiling to herself at the sight; she has her character do the same, then they check the loot, and while nothing good has dropped, Helena figures it’s still a good thing they have taken that boss down, as it will help Canary to complete the map.

_ Black Canary: Yay, thanks. Now I only got one left here, then I got all of this map done. Well, except the skyshards, but those are a pain to find. _

_ Huntress: lol yeah they are. I haven’t found them all either. _

_ Black Canary: :O And here I thought you got it ALL done in this game. I’m shocked. _

_ Black Canary: ;D _

Helena snickers to herself at that, and has her character laugh as well; Canary’s avatar does the same on screen, then they get moving again to take down the one boss Canary still needs, Helena feeling quite relaxed and good as she plays with her newfound companion, the sight of their characters riding and running side by side making her smile, they do make a good team and she suddenly hopes that they will get to play together more often in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The skyshards really are a pain to find. XD


	5. Chapter 5

Several days go by, and Dinah ends up playing with Huntress almost every evening; they either do raids with a bigger group or smaller stuff with just the two of them, and while she likes doing raids, she enjoys the time she spends with Huntress alone even more, they chat as they do quests and delves together, and while Huntress doesn’t really reveal any personal info, Dinah feels like she does get to know her better.

The other people in the guild are nice enough too, and willing to help out whenever it’s needed, but she prefers to spend her online time with Huntress; and so, when Huntress asks in the guild chat if anyone’s up for a PvP battleground, Dinah is quick to type that she is, even though she hasn’t done much player vs player content in the game so far.

**Huntress has invited you into a group.**

_ Huntress: Wait, we usually use voice on discord to coordinate during those rounds, you okay with that? Maybe should have asked before, sorry. _

_ Black Canary: Yeah that’s fine, just add me, BlackCanary2020 _

She hurries to open up the webpage, and already has been added to a group chat by the time it loads; realizing that her headset isn’t connected, Dinah quickly moves to grab it and connect it, and when she puts it on, they are already talking.

“Guys, shut up for a second”, a male voice says, “Huntress’ add is here, be quiet and stop talking all at once. Yo, Black Canary, right? I’m Marzogor, we’ve done a raid together before.”

“Yeah”, Dinah confirms, a bit glad that even in this, they use their character names, not quite ready to reveal her real name to a bunch of strangers, even though she wouldn’t mind telling Huntress, “I remember. Nice to be here with you guys.”

“Hey”, another guy says, “I’m Runs-with-Scissors, you can just call me Scissors, everyone does. Especially when things get hectic. When things get too hectic, Huntress sometimes calls me dumbass, I can live with that too.”

“I call you dumbass when you act like one”, Huntress tells him, and Dinah can only sit there and stare, because that has to be one of the most appealing voices she ever has heard. 

It’s somewhat deep for a woman, and a bit gravelly, and it oddly fits the look of the woman’s character; Dinah finds herself wondering if her actual look matches that voice, but knows she can’t just ask that, and so she bites the question back, another flash of heat rushing up her spine when the woman speaks up again.

“Also, welcome Black Canary, I guess you already know I’m Huntress”, Huntress says, and hearing her say her name does something to Dinah, “you ever done the Mad King battleground before?”

“Yeah, but just a few times with a random group”, Dinah lets them know, and unbeknownst to her, her voice affects Helena pretty much like hers has affected Dinah; she sits in front of her computer and has to drink down several big gulps of water, she’s had no idea what to expect when she has added Canary to the chat, but it certainly hasn’t been such a pleasant, downright attractive voice. 

_ Jesus, what a voice _ , she thinks to herself, managing to sound quite steady though when she says that this is good as it means that Canary knows how the battleground is set up and what to do,  _ shit, she sounds good. Oh my God, cut it out Helena, you know she’d never be into you, and you don’t even know her real name. _

“Okay”, she says, surprised at herself at how steady she sounds, none of her thoughts and feelings showing through her voice, “we all know how it goes then, I’m entering us into the queue. Remember, stay together, Scissors, if you randomly run off again to fight four people all on your own I’ll duel you and kick your ass.”

“Advice, Canary”, Scissors solemnly says while the game informs Dinah that her group has joined the battleground queue, “don’t ever duel Huntress. She really will kick your ass, she’s a fucking killing machine in PvP and in duels.”

“Noted”, Dinah says with a small laugh, and in front of her screen, Helena feels her face heat up at that laugh, “also, no running off all on my own, then, got that, too.”

“Good”, Helena says, then has to clear her throat, but thankfully, the others either don’t notice or don’t comment on it; and before she can start to worry that they have noticed and are just too nice to say anything, the game alerts her that the battleground is about to start, and she focuses on that at once, glad she has something to concentrate on.

“Stay together”, she reminds them again as it starts, and the four of them do stay together as they run to the first flag; they are playing against two other teams, four players each, and while Canary has said she hasn’t done that battleground that often, she does well enough, the four of them managing to fend off the others and capture the first flag.

“Orange team incoming”, Marzogor warns them, and Helena gets ready to fight them off; in the resulting skirmish, Canary does go down, and when she swears like a sailor at her death, Helena finds herself snickering, only laughing more when Canary incredulously asks her if she’s laughing at her pain.

“No”, Helena reassures her, smirking still, “I’m laughing at your language! Good thing we’re all adults here or we’d be in trouble.”

“We might be eighteen plus, but we’re not very adult”, Scissors chimes in, making Helena snicker again; and at her computer, Dinah smiles as well, laughing when a few of the opposing team gang up on Huntress and she reacts with an angry “motherfuckers!” as she goes down now.

“Look who’s having a potty mouth now”, Dinah immediately takes the chance giving for teasing, and there’s an odd coughing sound in response; Dinah isn’t sure whom it has come from, it could have been any of the other three, but then the two guys laugh, so she figures it must have been Huntress.

“She’s got you there Huntress!” Scissors is the one to confirm that suspicion, and Dinah laughs again when Huntress lets out a sort of wordless grumble in response; the battleground is quite hectic and they all are dying a lot, but she still feels relaxed despite the stressful moments in the game, figuring that Huntress’ pleasant voice is at least partly responsible for that, the way she gives quick, precise commands in a cool tone in one moment and curses angrily in the next amusing her more than it probably should have.

They don’t win, but they do make second place and it’s a close call; they still receive rewards, and Dinah rolls her eyes as once again, she gets heavy armour and this time a sword, too, items she doesn’t have any use for.

She offers them to the group, and Scissors is happy to take them, adding that he doesn’t really do the big raids and that this is good gear; and once that trade is done, Huntress asks if they’re up for another round, and Dinah is quick to agree.

PvP isn’t her favourite activity of the game, she ponders as she gets the alert that their group leader has signed them up for the queue, but she’s quite willing to play some more of it if it means she’ll get to hear more of Huntress’ very pleasant voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is dedicated to Mary Elizabeth Winstead's voice. XD


	6. Chapter 6

“Oh, come on”, Helena groans at her computer as the screen informs her that the servers are down, “really? After the shitty day I’ve had, you won’t even let me log into my game?”

She slumps back and stares up at the ceiling, grumbling to herself; the servers aren’t down often, but of course that would happen today, after she’s been dealing with annoying clients all day and just wants to do some relaxed questing and farming to unwind.

There’s a small chime, and she looks at the screen again, surprised to see it’s an alert from Discord, and not from the guild chat, but a private message; and her surprise only grows when she sees its from Canary, not quite having expected her to message her outside of the game.

_ Server down :(, _ the message reads, and Helena feels exactly like that sad emoji looks; she sighs to herself, then types her response, revealing more than she has initially been planning to with her words.

_ I know, fitting end for the crappy day I’ve had _ , she lets the other woman know, and the response comes at once, the words on the screen prompting her to raise her eyebrows.

_ Oh no, bad day?  _ Canary wants to know,  _ want to talk about it? I got time and open ears if you want to. _

Helena hesitates for a second, she doesn’t usually talk to the others in the guild when it’s not about the game; she wouldn’t mind hearing Canary’s voice again though, and so, she clicks the button to open private voice chat after a moment, feeling oddly excited when Canary joins just the blink of an eye later.

“Hey”, she says, she feels a bit awkward now, realizing it’s just the two of them and while it’s just voice with no video, it reminds her of her lack of skill when it comes to social interaction, and she hopes she won’t make an utter fool of herself now.

“Hi there”, Canary’s voice comes up, and makes her feel all warm and tingly inside again, she really does have a very nice voice, “so, tell me about your crappy day, it might make you feel better.”

“I do graphic design”, Helena decides to start with some background info, so the other woman will know what she is talking about, “freelance from home, you know? And I had some very annoying clients today, you’d think someone running a healthy food store wouldn’t be annoying, but this woman, Jesus. So I just wanted to unwind after all that crap, and now the server is down.”

“Oh man, yeah, I can imagine how that kind of person can be tiring”, Canary shows sympathy, and even though they don’t really know each other, it instantly makes Helena feel better, “poor you. If it makes you feel better, I work in my mother’s bar and the people there can be annoying, too.”

“That does make me feel better”, Helena tells her, smiling when she hears her let out a little chuckle, raising her brows at what the other woman says next though. 

“I can tell you something else which will make you feel better”, Canary says, and something in her tone makes Helena feel oddly nervous, “I’m pretty sure you have been told this before, you have quite the sexy voice.”

“I, w-what?” Helena stutters, she actually never has been told that before, and she feels her cheeks flush, glad now that Canary can’t see her, even though she can probably hear how startled she is by this through her voice - her  _ sexy _ voice, she crazily thinks to herself, Canary actually just has called her voice sexy, and somehow, thinking of that makes her blush deepen further.

“Oh no”, Canary realizes that perhaps, her assumption has been wrong, “did I freak you out now? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I did mean what I said though.”

“Oh, um”, Helena manages, then clears her throat and tells herself not to be ridiculous, it has been a compliment after all and while she doesn’t really know the other woman, she’s oddly certain Canary has meant it, “I actually haven’t been told that before so… thank you? Your voice is very pleasant, too.”

“Thank you”, Canary is much better at taking the compliment, “you know, this might sound weird now but… this is nice, you know. Just talking? I’ve never done this with anyone from the game before.”

“I don’t normally do that either”, Helena admits, wondering for a moment if Canary will think of her as weird now, “only when it’s related to the game.”

“Good it’s not just me then”, Canary says, and if she thinks Helena is weird now, she hides it well, no sign of it showing through her voice, “and even better that the first time I do this is with someone who has such a pleasant voice.”

“Oh”, Helena lets out, blushing as she hasn’t expected another compliment about her voice so quickly, and she’s glad this is only voice and no video, she can feel how hot her cheeks are and can only imagine how red her face has to be, “yeah, I… I’m enjoying this too, you sound very… nice.”

She almost smacks herself, wondering if she could have said anything more stupid than this; clearly, Canary seems to take no offense though, laughing in response, her laughter making Helena smile as well while she skillfully ignores the tingle this causes in her stomach.

“I’m told I am”, Canary lets her know, Helena smiling again as she continues, “unless when some drunk guys get annoying at the bar, I can be very not nice to them. Just last week, my mom and I had to throw a guy out when he was getting rowdy.”

“Oh shit”, Helena lets out, glad when this earns her another small laugh from the other woman, “you know martial arts or something so you can do that? Or do you, like, keep a shotgun behind the bar?”

“No shotgun”, Canary reassures her with another small laugh, “we do have a baseball bat, but I didn’t use that, I took self defense classes. I’m probably not good enough to compete in any tournaments or shit like that, but it’s enough to get rid of drunk guys at the bar.”

“I imagine”, Helena says with a small laugh of her own, realizing how natural and comfortable this feels by now, compared to how awkward she has felt in the beginning; and she can hear Canary’s smile through her voice as well when the woman responds, showing her that she is enjoying herself as well, the knowledge only making Helena feel better.

“Honestly though”, Canary says, “I’m glad every time we get through an evening without having to kick anyone out, luckily most nights are like that, but you never know when you open the place for the evening.”

“Yeah, I guess your job is more exciting in that regard than mine”, Helena says, earning another laugh from Canary, “the worst I have to deal with is people who change their ideas every ten minutes.”

“Which can be tiresome too, I imagine”, Canary thoughtfully says, and Helena just has time to let out an agreeing noise before a surprised “oh!” comes from Canary, followed by the information that the server is back up.

“See you in the game in a bit, then”, she adds, and Helena agrees before she leaves the chat; she logs into the game, Canary coming online a minute later as well, Helena smiling to herself as she sees her username pop up on screen, thinking back to how pleasant the woman’s voice is and how nice their talk has been as she plays, now finding herself wondering if they will do this again soon or if it has been a one time thing.

She doesn’t want to admit it to herself, but she really doesn’t want it to be a one time thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Helena, so startled XD


	7. Chapter 7

As it turns out, their talk has not been a one time thing, as they end up talking on several more occasions as the days go by; they talk while playing battlegrounds together, but also outside of that, a few times just chatting while doing easier quests or farming for materials, Helena growing more and more comfortable each time they speak.

She’s not quite at the point where she’d reveal any personal information, calling the other woman by her player name while Canary calls her Huntress in return; for the first time since she has started playing though and has begun making friends in game, she actually considers revealing her actual name, her first name, at least, but she’s not quite sure how to bring it up and she doesn’t want to make things weird between Canary and her.

As it turns out though, she doesn’t need to come up with a way to bring it up though - because when they are questing together one evening, and talking as they do, commenting on the events in game and telling each other about their day, there is suddenly another voice coming through her headphones, and she raises her brows as she is not sure Canary is aware that she can hear this.  


“Dinah, I’m going to the deli”, that new voice calls, and Helena figures it’s Dinah’s mother, she has mentioned that she lives with her during one of their other talks, “you need anything?”

“No, mom, thanks”, Canary calls back, considerate enough to pull the mic away from her mouth so Helena won’t hear her full force, “I’m good!”

“Okay”, the voice responds, already fading, then Canary clears her throat, and Helena figures she knows that her game partner has heard all of that.

“Sorry about that”, Canary then says, confirming Helena’s assumption, “I’ve told my mom she shouldn’t yell out like that when I’m wearing the headset and talking, but she’s not really… into any of that tech or gaming stuff.”

“You want me to pretend I didn’t hear?” Helena wants to know, keeping her gaze on the screen even though the enemies they’re fighting aren’t much of a challenge; Canary is quiet for a bit, but it doesn’t make Helena worry, she figures the other woman is thinking about it, and needs some time to decide, and she’s perfectly okay with that. 

“Nah”, Canary finally speaks up again, Helena smiling a bit, her smile widening when the other woman continues, “I don’t mind you knowing my name, even though I would have told you another way, if I’d had a say in it. So no need to pretend.”

“Okay”, Helena says, taking down another creepy little goblin and moving on to the next one, Canary’s character moving along next to her own, “and, well, you know, just to make it even, I… My name’s Helena.”

“Aw”, Dinah lets out in response, and Helena wonders if she is aware that no one else knows this, not even people she has been in the guild with for years, “I appreciate you telling me, and you’re right, it’s even now. Helena, that’s a nice name.”

“So is yours”, Helena tells her, this time managing to keep her voice steady even though she can feel her cheeks heat up again, she really isn’t used to receiving any compliments, “and I promise I won’t tell it to anyone.”

“Neither will I”, Dinah reassures her, and that makes her smile again, “I’ll just have to make sure to call you Huntress when we’re in chat with others then, I hope I won’t slip up.”

“Eh, no worries”, Helena says with a small shrug, even though she knows Dinah can’t see that, “it’s not like it’s this big secret. Careful, big goblin on your right.”

Dinah responds by using one of her more powerful skills on said goblin, and it falls over dead fairly quickly; Helena smirks to herself, she can tell that the new equipment Dinah has gained lately is working well for her, and she’s glad, wanting the other woman to enjoy the game and to keep playing, not quite admitting to herself that this is because she wants to spend more time with her.

“Man, I love this new staff”, Dinah comments, even though Helena figures it’s not that new anymore, it has been a while since they have run the dungeon where it has dropped for Dinah, “so much power, thanks again for letting me have that.”

“You’re welcome”, Helena tells her, still smiling to herself, “I’m glad it works well for you, and I don’t use staffs anyway so… Glad you like it.”

“I love it”, Dinah reassures her, then grumbles under her breath as she takes some damage; she quickly takes the responsible enemy down, then speaks up again, Helena raising her brows at how she suddenly sounds a bit sheepish.

“So”, Dinah starts, clearing her throat before she goes on, “if you don’t mind me asking, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but… can I ask how old you are?”

“Oh sure”, Helena replies, a bit relieved, she hasn’t been quite sure what to expect at Dinah’s tone, but this is fairly harmless, “I’m twenty-four.”

“Oh me too”, Dinah says, sounding quite happy about this, making Helena wonder why, “when’s your birthday?”   


“February 18th”, Helena lets her know, Dinah telling her that hers is June 27th, which is somewhat close; Helena still isn’t sure why she’d want to know that, but saves the date to her phone anyway, wanting to wish Dinah a happy birthday once the day arrives.

“Ah, there we go”, Dinah returns her attention to the quest they are playing through, “that was the last goblin we needed to kill, it counted for you too, right?”

“Right”, Helena confirms, the questlog now instructing her to go talk to the quest giver, “we can hand it in, you wanna run a delve after that? There’s one not far from here.”

“Sure”, the other woman replies at once, making Helena smile again, she does enjoy playing with Dinah and she has been hoping that her suggestion would be met with agreement, “I didn’t run that one yet anyway, and it’ll be more efficient if it’s the two of us.”

“Agreed”, Helena says, summoning her mount as this will take them back to the quest giver faster; Dinah does the same, and they ride side by side, Dinah once more commenting on how good that mount looks as they move through the game’s world.

“Thank you”, Helena is appreciative of that compliment, “lot of farming went into that, like I said. But hey, they’ll probably have another Halloween event in October, maybe there’ll be a similar one this year. The guild usually works together then so we’re done faster, then you might get an awesome mount, too.”

“That’s good to know”, Dinah tells her in response, making her mount hop as with joy and earning a snort of laughter from Helena, “honestly, you guys are all so nice and supportive of each other, I’m really glad you’ve asked me to join. Thank you.”

“I’m glad you joined”, Helena lets her know, speaking on before she can stop herself, before she even fully realizes what she’s about to say, “I’m glad we met.”

She blushes furiously a second later, and curses herself for just saying this, surely, Dinah will think of her as weird now; instead, Dinah responds at once, sounding softer than usual now, but happy, and her words make Helena smile again as her blush fades.

“Yeah”, Dinah says, and Helena can hear the smile curling her lips, “me too.”

Helena clears her throat, still a bit embarrassed, and doesn’t quite manage to keep her voice steady when she asks if they should continue on the delve now, and Dinah agrees; and as they keep playing, Helena cautions herself, warns herself to not get too attached, she knows this can only remain a friendship in game, and nothing more can ever come from it.

She keeps telling herself this, but part of her quite steadfastly refuses to believe it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Actual names have been exchanged. XD


	8. Chapter 8

Already when Helena logs into the game a few days after they have told each other their name, age and birthday, and says Hi, Dinah can tell that something is bothering her.

She sounds oddly subdued, a bit tired, but somehow, Dinah can tell it’s more than simple tiredness after a hard day of work; and she wonders if they know each other well enough that she can ask her at this point, then decides to risk it, wanting to show her she is there for her, even if they haven’t even seen each other’s face yet.

“Hey”, she thus says, “Helena? You okay? You sound a bit… different.”

“...yeah”, Helena says after a moment, and Dinah can tell the question has surprised her, but at least she doesn’t sound annoyed or offended, “I’m just having… an off day, I guess. Thanks for asking.”

“Well, now you’re here, and you can relax”, Dinah tells her, hoping she is saying the right thing, “we can do some farming together if you like? Nothing taxing? Unless you want to take out some frustration on unsuspecting other players, then we can do PvP, whatever you prefer, I got time.”

“Farming sounds good”, Helena lets her know, sounding a bit better already, to Dinah’s relief, “for now at least, for the moment, I just want to do something where I don’t have to think much. I just… don’t like rainy days.”

“Oh, it’s raining here today, too”, Dinah tells her, then pauses and frowns, shaking her head to herself afterwards, she knows this game is played all over America, all over the  _ world _ , so certainly, it’s not possible that…

“Here in Gotham, I mean”, she adds before she can overthink this, and she hears Helena let out a gasp in reply, her own eyes going wide as she realizes what this might mean, before Helena even says something.

“No way”, Helena says, sounding so flabbergasted that Dinah has to hold back a laugh, “you’re in Gotham?!”

“I am”, Dinah confirms, now glad that she has followed this hunch and has revealed her location, “we’re at Harper Road, my mom’s bar is there, too. And now I hope you’re not some creepy serial killer, lulling me in with being nice so you can now come kill me in my sleep.”

“No worries”, Helena tells her, and Dinah is glad that her words earn her a little bit of laughter, too, “I promise I’m not a serial killer, neither creepy nor otherwise.”

“Good”, she solemnly says, a sudden idea hitting her a moment later, and she once again follows her hunch, speaking on without allowing herself to overthink it, “and hey, maybe, if you want, you can drop by at the bar some time. You know, say Hi, have a drink, that sort of thing.”

Helena is quiet for so long that Dinah wonders if her connection has gone bye-bye and the game just hasn’t caught up yet, and falsely shows her as online, it wouldn’t be the first time; then, Helena does speak up again at last, and Dinah immediately feels bad and worried, knowing at once that this time, it hasn’t been a good idea to listen to her hunch.

“I gotta go”, Helena says, sounding tired again now, tired and somehow resigned, and Dinah’s mind races as she tries to figure out what this means, how she has fucked up, “sorry, I… Something’s come up. Bye.”

“Helena”, Dinah still has time to say, then the other woman is shown as offline; she groans in dismay, certainly not having expected this reaction, and hides her face in her hands as she tries to figure out why Helena would react like that - and if she has messed up that friendship for good now, ruining it with her suggestion before it even has fully begun to form.

* * *

_ Beanstalk: Can you come down here for a second _

_ Pino: ???  _

_ Beanstalk: Please? _

_ Pino: Sure _

Pino puts his phone away and frowns, usually, whenever Helena wants him to come downstairs, she just yells for him until he listens and goes to see what she needs; she hasn’t ever texted him before to ask him to come down, but he shrugs it off and comes to his feet, hurrying downstairs to Helena’s area of the house, where her office, her living room and her bedroom are located.

“Helena?” he calls out as he enters her living room, knowing she’s usually there at this time of the day, playing her game; and she is at her computer, but not in the game, he sees, staring at the character select screen, turning to face him though when she hears him enter.

He takes one look at her and knows something is wrong, and his confusion is immediately pushed aside by worry, his concern showing through his features and his voice when he hurries to her and sits down next to her.

“What’s wrong”, he wants to know, going into protective mode at once even though he is her younger brother, “did something happen?”

“Yes”, Helena mumbles, then sighs and shrugs, giving him another unhappy look, “maybe. I don’t know. You remember Dinah?”   


“Your friend from the game?” Pino asks, he’s fairly certain this is it, but wants to be sure; Helena nods, and swallows, then sighs again, glancing towards the screen as she goes on, as if she finds it hard to look at him, even though he knows that is not the problem.

“Yeah”, she confirms verbally as well, studying her character, the avatar which looks so much like her, standing tall and strong on the screen and waiting to be selected, “she… she’s from Gotham too. And she asked me to drop by at her mother’s bar, when we were gaming together and I… I don’t know, I freaked and told her I have to go and just logged off. I fucked it all up.”

“Oh Helena”, he lets out, sympathetic, and she has to swallow heavily again, she doesn’t want to cry in front of him, but she’s close - she considers others in the guild her friends, too, but it has been different with Dinah, their connection has been different, and she’s afraid that she has ruined it all now.

“If she’s your friend, she’ll understand”, Pino tries to make her feel better, Helena looking a bit doubtful, but not trying to argue, “just… explain? Or maybe you should drop by at the bar, tell her in person. Then you’ll… also know if she’s your friend.”

Helena sighs again at that, she doesn’t want to face Dinah and see how the other woman will react; on the other hand, she knows that she won’t be able to find excuses to not meet her until the end of time, sooner or later, Dinah will get suspicious, and she figures that Pino is right, if Dinah truly is her friend, something she hopes for, it will be okay no matter what.

“I’ll come with you, if you want”, Pino offers, and while Helena is touched by his offer, she is not surprised, she knows he doesn’t think it’s healthy for her to stay at their home all the time, “check it out beforehand, see if it works for you? And I promise I’ll leave and won’t be a nuisance afterwards.”

“...okay”, Helena makes herself say, before she can think about it for too long, and Pino lights up at once; excitedly, he points at the screen and tells her to get her ass back in the game then and ask Dinah when she’ll work again, his happiness and enthusiasm making Helena smile a tiny bit, and she’s glad she has asked him for help.

“Um, hey”, she says when Dinah happily greets her at once the second she is online again, “sorry about that, I’m… back.”

“Welcome back”, Dinah says, thankfully not sounding offended, Pino leaning closer so he can hear what she is saying as well, “and I apologize, I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“You didn’t”, Helena lies, then reconsiders and clears her throat, “well, maybe you did a little bit. But… I’ve thought about it and… I want to come to that bar. When you’re there.”

“Really?!” Dinah sounds overjoyed, and Helena finds herself smiling, even though she still isn’t sure this is truly a good idea, “great! I’d love to meet you. I’m working tomorrow, from five to ten.”

“Alright”, Helena says while Pino pumps his fist in triumph, “I’ll be there. You up for a dungeon run now?”

Clearly, the part Pino thinks of as interesting is done now, as he rolls his eyes, then comes to his feet and waves; Helena waves back at him while Dinah agrees, and even though she feels nervous as they start searching for other members for their little group, she keeps telling herself that this is the right thing to do, that Pino is right and that soon, she’ll know if Dinah truly is her friend.

She hopes with all her heart that she won’t be disappointed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, what might Helena be worried about? x)


	9. Chapter 9

Already when Dinah starts her shift at the bar in the next day, she is excited, even though she has no idea when Helena actually will show up, aware that she might have to wait a few hours for that to happen, but she can’t quite help herself.

She feels connected to the woman, even though they haven’t spoken face to face so far, only having used voice chat and the text based conversation in the game; the thought of actually meeting Helena in person makes her giddy, enough that her mother notices, but she acts innocent at the curious look the elder woman shoots her, and pretends to be very busy with cleaning glasses, even though the bar is far from full.

“Alright”, her mother comments with a roll of her eyes, “I won’t ask, just don’t get up to anything weird. I’ll be in the back, yell in case you need me.”

Dinah lets out a vaguely agreeing noise, and her mother vanishes to the small office behind the bar; keeping herself busy, Dinah does clean a few more glasses and puts them away, a bit bored now, there are a few guests but they all have drinks, and so she feels glad when the door opens and a young man steps inside.

“Hello”, Dinah greets him, but he merely nods at her - before he confuses as her, as he holds out his hands a few inches from his hips and starts walking this way and that, nodding to himself and letting out noises of approval, and she wonders if one of Gotham’s many crazies has wandered into the place.

“Excuse me?” she calls out to him as he goes to check on the restrooms, “can I help you?”

“Nope!” he says cheerfully, and she blinks, confused now, “it’s all good. Bye!”

“What the…”, Dinah has time to mumble, then he leaves without looking back; she shakes her head and goes back to putting glasses away, turning towards the door though when she hears it open once more, worried that the weird guy is coming back and maybe do some more crazy shit.

It’s not the weird guy though, but a young woman, Dinah guesses they’re about the same age; she’s dressed in black from head to toe, from her leather jacket to the fingerless gloves and her heavy looking biker boots - and clearly, Dinah thinks to herself, black is a colour she truly must like, as the wheelchair she’s in is mostly made of the same colour, with shiny chrome here and there, fitting the silver zippers and buttons on her jacket. 

“Hello”, Dinah greets her, “welcome to the Bird’s Nest, what can I get you?”

“Um, hi”, the woman says, and Dinah freezes, eyes going wide when the other woman continues, “Dinah, right? I, um, I’m--”

“Huntress”, Dinah finishes for her, grinning now, “Helena. Like I wouldn’t recognize that sexy voice.”

To her amusement, Helena blushes brightly and clears her throat, obviously not having expected to be complimented on her voice like that, and certainly not right after having arrived at the bar; Dinah smirks at her, then asks if she wants something to drink, Helena shrugging before she nods, figuring it’d only be polite as this is Dinah’s workplace.

“Yeah”, she thus says, having to clear her throat again before she can go on, “a coke if you have?”

“Sure”, Dinah reassures her, grabbing one of the glasses she just has put away and filling it up with the drink, “you want ice in that? Or a lemon?”

“A lemon would be nice”, Helena lets her know, earning a nod before Dinah cuts up one of the fruits in question and carefully puts a slice into the glass, making sure to not drop it in so it won’t splash everywhere; then, she makes her way around the counter to hand it to Helena, telling her it’s on the house when she moves to grab her wallet.

“Just don’t tell my mom”, she then adds as Helena thanks her, smirking to show she’s not fully serious, “she can be really stingy about giving out drinks, but after all the good gear you helped me get, that is the least I can do. I’m glad you made it here tonight.”

“I was a bit nervous”, Helena admits, momentarily surprised at herself as normally, she’s not one to speak about her emotions so openly, especially not to people she barely knows, and she is very aware that she doesn’t know Dinah that well outside of the game, “I normally don’t go to bars much, most of them aren’t suitable for… well.”

She vaguely gestures at herself, and expects the questions to come now, the questions and the pitiful looks; Dinah neither looks at her with pity though, nor does she ask the things Helena usually hears at that point, but just nods in understanding, giving her another smile as she grabs the nearest chair and pulls it closer, bringing herself to eye level with Helena as she sits down. 

“I like your jacket”, Dinah says matter-of-factly once she has gotten comfortable, and Helena blinks, apparently, Dinah has made it her mission to pay her as many compliments as possible, “very badass.”

“Thank you”, Helena manages, her mind racing as she tries to come up with something nice she can say in return, “your, um, your tight pants are really nice too.”

_ Oh my God _ , she realizes one second after the words have left her mouth,  _ now she’ll think you’re a weirdo or a creep or both, her tight pants? Who says that?! _

“Thanks”, Dinah says with a little smirk, but it doesn’t seem as if she’s put off by what Helena has said, to her relief, but she’s still annoyed at herself and her lack of skill when it comes to socializing like that.

“You chose a good time to drop by”, Dinah goes on, distracting Helena from her annoyance at herself, “not much business yet, so I got time to hang out with you.”

“Yeah, good thing”, Helena nods at once, earning another smile from the other woman, “I don’t want to keep you from working though, I don’t want to cause trouble for you.”

“Nah, no worries”, Dinah reassures her at once, glad when this gets her a little smile from Helena - she’s confident when they are playing together, and sounds like it when they talk through voice chat, but now that they are here face to face, she seems somewhat subdued and perhaps worried about what Dinah thinks of her, and Dinah wants to take her doubts and worries away.

“So tell me”, she thus says, figuring that the game will be a good topic to talk about, as it is something Helena is good at, and she’ll hopefully feel confident talking about it, “how long exactly have you been playing?”

“Too long, if you ask my brother”, Helena tells her, smirking a bit, the sight making Dinah smile again as well, “about four years? Usually after work to unwind, you know, but a lot more on the weekends. You’ve probably noticed that, I am online every time you log in.”

“Well, can’t say I mind that”, Dinah reassures her, earning another small smile, “I do enjoy gaming with you, I’ve played a lot of it solo, but it is more fun with someone you enjoy having around. And I’m not just saying that because I get to run the big raids with you and the others, where the awesome gear drops.”

“I didn’t think you were saying it because of that”, Helena lets her know, her smile widening a bit, “you’re good at it, so… We wouldn’t invite you if you weren’t.”

“Good point”, Dinah has to admit, “but still, good to hear it, so thanks. Honestly, I’m glad it all worked out like that.”

“Me too”, Helena admits, feeling her cheeks heat up again; Dinah has a moment to give her another smile, then a guest enters the bar and she has to go and do her job, aware of Helena watching her as she pours the man his drink, truly glad that she has shown up and that they get to spend some time like this, and hoping it will happen again in the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helena needs to work on her complimenting skills. XD


	10. Chapter 10

**Black Canary has logged in.**

_ Huntress: Evening :) _

_ Black Canary: Hey! How are you? _

_ Huntress: I’m good, thank you. How are you? _

_ Black Canary: Good too, thank you. lol you missed big drama the other day, at the bar? We had a breakup right there, like an hour after you’d left. _

_ Huntress: Oh no lol I hope no glasses were thrown or something _

_ Black Canary: Yikes, no, thank goodness. The lady was close to throwing something after her bf though I think, apparently she caught him cheating and she let him have it. The perks of being a barkeep :D _

_ Huntress: Serves him right then lol cheaters are the worst _

_ Black Canary: Agreed! So, what are you up to in Tamriel tonight? Any plans? _

_ Huntress: Just farming, I need a shitton of leather for the armour I want to craft, lol. Want to join? _

_ Black Canary: On my way. Voice? _

_ Huntress: Sure _

“Hey”, Helena says as the voice chat shows them as connected, finding herself smiling when Dinah immediately returns her greeting, “you need anything yourself? We can trade, I’ll take all the leather you’ll find.”

“Heartwood”, Dinah says at once, and Helena is not surprised, that is always needed by many players in the game, “I want to start properly furnishing my house and I’ll need a lot of that.”

“Deal”, Helena agrees at once, she knows that is actually not a very good deal as the wood Dinah wants is worth more than the leather she needs, but she doesn’t really care, “you ready?”   


“Ready”, Dinah confirms after a quick glance at her inventory, making sure she has enough room for what they might find; they get moving together, walking this time and not using their mounts, Dinah smiling when Helena speaks up again fairly quickly.

“So, tell me”, she says, her words earning her a small laugh from the barkeep, “you often have dramatic breakups at your bar?”

“No”, Dinah replies with another laugh, “but that one really was good, you should have seen his face when she called him out on his cheating. Everyone else was so quiet, nobody wanted to miss anything.”

“Damn, pity I missed it”, Helena says, and Dinah immediately takes the chance given by that, Helena pretty sure she can hear her smile again when she responds, and she smiles as well at what Dinah is saying.

“Well, you’ll just have to drop by again then”, Dinah tells her, “maybe you’ll get to witness an epic breakup then. I’ll even share my popcorn with you.”

“How could I say no to that”, Helena can’t hold back a small laugh at the mental image of sitting side by side with Dinah and munching popcorn while watching some couple fight; then, she clears her throat and grows serious, even though Dinah can’t see her, but she can hear it through her voice when she speaks on.

“And, also, um”, she starts, Dinah not saying anything, giving her time to find the words, and that impresses and touches Helena, it’s as if Dinah knows her so well already, “I wanted to… God, that is gonna sound stupid but… thank you. For not… I don’t know, being weirded out when you saw… me.”

“Oh”, Dinah lets out, she hasn’t been quite sure what to expect, but it hasn’t really been this, it never has crossed her mind even for a second to be weirded out, as Helena has put it, “that’s sweet but… not necessary? I get what you mean though, I mean, I guess not everyone reacts… well, if they don’t know beforehand.”

“You can say that again”, Helena says with a roll of her eyes, firing a few arrows into an overly aggressive wolf as she continues, “I had a client meet me here once, at my office? And he got all big eyed and said, oh wow, you don’t sound like you’re disabled on the phone.”

“What”, Dinah almost yelps, sounding so incredulous that it makes Helena smile again, the memory isn’t pleasant, but Dinah’s reaction makes it better, “seriously? What a jerk, who says that?”   


“Yeah, my brother was not amused”, Helena remembers, smirking as she thinks back to the way Pino has glared at the man, if looks could kill, the guy would have fallen over dead right then and there, “he’s quite protective of me, he also went to check out your bar before he’d let me go in.”

“Honestly”, Dinah says, shaking her head in front of her computer even though Helena can’t see that, “we haven’t known each other that long, I know that, but if I hear someone say something like that to you, I might get protective of you, too, and I’m told I can be quite terrifying if I want to be.”

“Aw”, Helena lets out, smiling again, touched by those words, “I appreciate that, thanks. But I hope it won’t be necessary. Most people just stare, but don’t say anything, so…”

“They might be looking at your badass jacket though”, Dinah thoughtfully comments, earning another snort from Helena as she seriously doubts that, but Dinah does sound as if she means it, “it is a very nice jacket, it looked good on you.”

“Thank you”, Helena decides to just take the compliment and to not point out that she finds this highly unlikely, “and no worries, this time, I won’t get all weird and creepy and compliment you on your tight pants in return.”

Dinah laughs in response to that, and while Helena still feels awkward about what she has said, she finds herself smiling at the sound, Dinah does have a nice laugh; and she still sounds amused when she responds, her words making Helena blush again, and she’s glad that Dinah can’t actually see her. 

“Don’t worry, it was neither creepy, nor weird”, Dinah reassures her, Helena letting out a little noise of disbelief, having felt quite weird mere seconds after she’d said it, but clearly, Dinah doesn’t think so, “it was kind of adorable, and I have to say, I’ve never gotten a compliment like that before in my life.”

“You’re probably the only person in the world who finds this adorable”, Helena dryly says, making Dinah laugh again, and she’s glad, she really does like to hear that, “but I guess that’s lucky for me, then.”

“I suppose so”, Dinah agrees, and once more Helena can hear the smile on her face, “and you’ll be even luckier soon, cause I got quite a bit of leather by now. You found any heartwood?”

“Yup”, Helena confirms, and they move to a relatively safe area to do their trade, “trade you one for one, I really need that leather.”

“You know that’s a bad trade, right”, Dinah wants to know, just to make sure; Helena confirms she knows, but doesn’t care, and they make the trade, Dinah letting out a cute little hum as she receives the wood, a sort of “doo doo doo” sound which makes Helena laugh.

“That was cute”, she says before she can stop herself, and she’s fairly certain Dinah is smirking when she replies, her words once again making Helena blush.

“Thank you”, Dinah says, a hint of mischief in her voice, “so are you.”

Helena coughs, then awkwardly changes the topic by asking if they should continue farming; thankfully, Dinah just agrees without commenting on her reaction and without bringing possible cuteness up again, but Helena finds herself unable to stop thinking about, wondering if Dinah has meant that the way it has sounded, not quite daring to hope yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That really is a bad trade, Helena. But, she got called cute. XD


	11. Chapter 11

As it turns out during the next days, Dinah isn’t stingy when it comes to giving out compliments; she keeps making remarks about Helena’s alleged cuteness and how this and that is adorable, and Helena finds herself blushing each time, and each time, she is glad Dinah can’t see her.

She doesn’t make it to the bar again, but Dinah doesn’t seem to take it personal; one evening though, when they are playing together again, Dinah does let her know that she’d like to meet somewhere outside the game again, and while it is an innocent thing to say, it makes Helena blush after all the nice things Dinah has said to her.

“Yeah, sure”, she still says, she has enjoyed the time at the bar, once she has gotten over her initial awkwardness, “you have anything in mind? Nothing with stairs, please.”

“Well, there’s this movie I wanna see, but none of my friends likes horror movies, and I don’t wanna go alone”, Dinah tells her, and while Helena isn’t the biggest fan of horror movies, she doesn’t mind them, either, “you wanna go see that with me?”

“Yeah”, Helena agrees, it has been a while since she has been to the cinema, but she knows which ones in Gotham can accomodate wheelchair users, “there’s one near the harbour which has a wheelchair space in the back row, but we should reserve that, just to be on the safe side.”

“I’ll take care of that”, Dinah reassures her, sounding quite happy at her agreement, Helena thinking to herself she must want to see this movie real bad, “how’s Friday for you?”

“I got time”, Helena lets her know, it’s not like she has a thriving social life and needs to check her calendar; Dinah tells her to hold on for a minute so she can check the cinema’s schedule, letting her know a short while later that the movie is playing at nine in the evening and asking if they should meet for dinner before that.

“There’s a nice taco place not far from the cinema”, she adds, still sounding quite overjoyed, “you might need a little push to get over the threshold, but the interior should work out, they got enough room between their tables.”

“Sounds good, I love tacos”, Helena agrees to that as well, smiling at how Dinah immediately has thought of the extra room she’ll need to maneuver around and has taken that into consideration when picking the place, “we could meet there at half past seven? Then we have enough time to eat.”

“Yeah, sounds good”, Dinah echoes her earlier words, “awesome, I’m looking forward to that. You wanna go play through a delve now?”

“Okay”, Helena agrees again, and they get moving to one of the delves on this map Dinah hasn’t played through yet; and as they play, Helena finds herself smiling at the thought of going to dinner and to the cinema with the other woman, looking forward to it as well, figuring it will be nice to spend an evening out with a friend every once in a while.

* * *

Helena arrives at the taco place right on time, and Dinah is already there, standing at the entrance; she starts moving when the car pulls up and she realizes it’s Helena, raising her brows when she recognizes the guy who’s driving as the weird guy who’d been to her bar, belatedly realizing that this has to be Helena’s brother and also realizing what he had been doing back then.

For a moment, Dinah is unsure if she should try to help, but Helena seems to do fine on her own, unfolding the wheelchair next to the passenger side door with fast, practiced moves, positioning it so that she can easily get into it; and by the time Dinah stops by her side, she’s ready, giving a little wave as Dinah greets her.

“Have fun!” her brother calls from the car, just before Helena shuts the door; this doesn’t seem to bother him though as Dinah can see him grin while he drives off, then she focuses on the other woman, giving her another smile, happy when Helena smiles back at her.

“Oh, the badass jacket is back”, Dinah comments as they get moving, making their way to the restaurant’s entrance, “nice.”

“It’s my favourite jacket”, Helena lets her know, earning another smile before Dinah steps ahead of her to pull the door open; there is a little bump at the threshold, but she can get over it with a slightly stronger push, and is glad she has managed to do so without Dinah’s help, she knows Dinah wouldn’t have minded, but she does prefer to do as much as possible on her own.

One of the waiters come over to greet them, and Dinah lets him know she’s reserved a table for two, on the name of Lance; he nods and leads them to a booth at the back, Helena quite relieved that Dinah has been right and that there is enough room for her to easily roll along, the waiter quickly removing one of the chairs so she can park herself there.

The waiter puts menus on the table for them, then retreats to give them time to choose; Helena takes off her jacket before she picks up the menu, only to pause as she notices how Dinah is staring at her, not quite sure why, giving the other woman a questioning look, Dinah clearing her throat before she vaguely gestures at her, appearing somewhat embarrassed.

“I didn’t quite expect you to be so… muscular”, she then admits, giving a slightly sheepish smile, Helena belatedly realizing that the shirt is wearing gives quite the good view of her arms, and she shrugs, then smiles to show she isn’t offended, not wanting Dinah to feel bad.

“Well, I do wheel my weight around, and the chair”, she points out, Dinah having to admit that this is a good point, “it’s one of the lighter models, but still.”

“Yeah, good point”, Dinah nods, then smiles, quickly getting over her embarrassment, “well, just so you know, it’s a good view.”

Helena colours and has to clear her throat, distracting herself by looking at the menu now; taking pity on her, Dinah changes the topic by recommending a few dishes, she has eaten here several times before and knows what is best on the menu, and Helena is happy to follow her recommendations.

They order nachos with salsa and guacamole as a starter, deciding to share that, then a main dish for each of them; Dinah tells her she hopes there’ll still be room for desert, but she does want popcorn at the cinema, gasping when Helena tells her she’s not actually that big on popcorn.

“I don’t like how the kernels get stuck in your teeth”, Helena defends herself, and Dinah gasps dramatically, going as far as placing her hand on her chest, Helena finding herself laughing at her antics, still snickering when Dinah responds, the twinkle in her eyes showing that she’s not fully serious.

“I don’t know if we can be friends anymore, after this”, Dinah declares, then puts on a thoughtful face, making Helena laugh again with what she says next, “but then, on the other hand, that means more popcorn for me. Okay, we’re good.”

“Yay”, Helena comments with another small laugh, Dinah snickering as well; she reaches over and pats Helena’s arm, and Helena has to try hard to hide the flash of heat which runs to her core at the touch.

_ Friends _ , she reminds herself as Dinah pulls her hand back, and she immediately misses the gentle touch,  _ you’re friends, don’t read anything more than that in this. You know she’d never be into you that way, anyway. _

She tells herself this in earnest, but part of her refuses to listen, and she hopes this won’t get her in trouble and ruin this newly forming friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friends. Uh-huh xD  
> Also, I'm with Helena on the popcorn question. XD


	12. Chapter 12

A few weeks go by, and while Helena and Dinah spend time in the game together, they also go out on the weekends; they go out for dinner, for a stroll down one of the shopping streets, to the cinema again and to a streetfood festival, and while Helena continuously has to remind herself that they are just friends, she manages to hide her growing feelings quite well, not wanting to let Dinah notice and have this friendship ruined.

“Going out again?” Pino asks her as she is getting ready for exactly that, raising his eyebrows at her, “you need me to drive you anywhere? You know I don’t mind.”

“Nah, I’m good”, Helena lets him know, pulling on her boots and quickly lacing them up, “Dinah’s picking me up.”

“How nice of your date to pick you up”, Pino comments, and Helena nearly rips her laces, her head snapping up so she can stare at him; he cluelessly looks back at her, blinking, raising his eyebrows again when Helena vehemently shakes her head.

“She is not my date”, she then says, Pino actually having the audacity to snort at that, “we’re friends. Not dating.”

“Right”, Pino says, rolling his eyes, unimpressed when Helena glares at him before she bends over again to finish tying her boots, “and that is why you do couple shit like going to the cinema and to dinner, every Friday. Because you’re  _ friends _ .”

“We are”, Helena insists, keeping her gaze on her boots now, not sure if she should say what else is on her mind, but then, Pino knows her, so she figures he already is aware that there is more she’s not saying, “we’re friends. And I’m pretty sure she’d agree that we’re not dating, because why would she want to date me, have you seen her? She could have anyone. She doesn’t need a cripple.”

“Aw, Helena”, Pino lets out, and she makes a face, but doesn’t take the words back; she clears her throat before her brother can say anything else, then tells him that Dinah should be here any minute now.

“I’ll see you later”, she adds, and to her relief, Pino just nods, and doesn’t reprimand her for the way she has talked about herself; she takes a moment to pull on her gloves, preferring to have them on when she wheels herself around, then makes her way to the front door and outside, Dinah pulling up just as Helena closes the door behind herself. 

“Hey”, the barkeep greets her as she gets out of the car while Helena wheels herself closer, giving the house an appreciative look, “nice place. You live here with your brother?”

“Yeah”, Helena confirms, Dinah opening the passenger side door for her, ready to help her get in if necessary, but Helena can do so fine on her own, folding up the wheelchair quickly once she’s in the seat and placing it between her legs, “upper floor is his, groundfloor mine, for obvious reasons. Technically there is a stair lift, but he’s got his man cave up there, so I’m not missing much.”

“I imagine”, Dinah says with a small laugh as she gets into the driver’s seat and starts the engine; their plan for the evening is to check out a new Italian restaurant downtown, Dinah claiming that Helena can tell her how legit it is, and Helena is fine with that, for the moment managing to ignore her budding feelings, even as she notices Dinah glance at her every now and then during the drive.

Thankfully, Dinah finds a parking spot near the restaurant quickly, and they arrive in time for their reservation; as it turns out, the pizza the place serves gets Helena’s stamp of approval, both of them enjoying their meal, even though there’s not really room for dessert by the time they get done.

“We could take a little stroll down the street”, Dinah suggests after they’ve paid and are leaving the restaurant, holding the door open so Helena can roll through, “get rid of some of those calories? And maybe find some vendor for dessert.”

“Sounds good”, Helena agrees, Dinah smiling at her before she moves to walk beside her; the evening is surprisingly warm, so Helena has left her jacket in the car, and so, Dinah gets quite the good view of her arms again as she pushes herself along next to her, looking quite unabashedly, not sure if Helena notices or not.

They chat pleasantly as they make their way down the street, Helena managing to make Dinah laugh a few times with her dry comments, and her heart swells each time she causes that sound; she keeps reminding herself they are just friends though, even though this gets more and more difficult each time they go out like this.

Halfway down the street, they find a donut shop, and Dinah suggests getting something from there; and once the pastries have been purchased, Dinah spots an empty bench and they move to that, Dinah sitting down on the very edge of it so she can be close to Helena as the other woman parks herself next to it.

“Yum”, Dinah lets out after taking the first bite of her donut, licking her lips, perhaps a bit slower than necessary, but she is aware of Helena watching her, and she is aware of the way Helena swallows at the sight, “that’s a good donut. How’s yours?”

Helena only seems to remember at Dinah asking her that she has a donut of her own, and quickly takes a bite of it; she lets Dinah know it tastes good, too, the barkeep smiling at her before she goes back to munching down her own donut, licking her lips again once it’s gone, which is not strictly necessary, but it makes Helena swallow heavily again, so Dinah figures it has been worth it.

“So”, she says, smiling innocently, not letting it show that she is perfectly aware of Helena’s reactions to what she is doing, “my mom’s working the bar tonight, so my place is empty. How about we head there for a nightcap?”

This might not be something people who are just friends do, Helena realizes, but she is still convinced that this is not a date, so she nods and finishes off her donut; then, they make their way back to Dinah’s car, Dinah again sneaking glances at Helena as she drives.

She’s glad that her building has an elevator once they arrive there, as it means Helena can easily get up to the apartment she shares with her mother; as expected, the place is dark and empty, and Dinah directs Helena to the living room, letting her know she can either move onto the couch or park herself somewhere, whatever she prefers, while she’ll get them something to drink.

By now, Dinah has taken note of how Helena never drinks alcohol when they’re out and about, and so, she doesn’t grab beers for them, opting for coke instead; and when she returns to the living room with the two cans, she’s secretly glad to see Helena has moved onto the couch, she has been hoping to find her there as this will make what she intends to do easier.

“There you go”, she says, handing Helena one of the drinks before she sits down next to her, “you’re comfortable?”

“Yeah”, Helena reassures her, the couch is quite comfortable, what she can feel of it at least; Dinah gives her a smile, then takes a sip of her drink, leaning back comfortably afterwards, not taking her eyes of the other woman as she speaks up again, toying with her drink as she talks.

“I’m having a good time tonight”, she lets Helena know, earning a small smile from the other woman, “I’ve had a good time each time we went out. I’m glad we met.”

“Me too”, Helena says, blushing a bit, but not thinking much of it, still convinced Dinah sees her as a friend and nothing more; this belief is shaken though when Dinah turns a bit on the couch so that she can look at Helena without turning her head, and places her hand on the other woman’s arm, Helena swallowing a bit again when she feels Dinah’s palm on her bare skin.

She can’t feel her legs, she randomly thinks to herself, but it seems the nerves in her forearm are determined to make up for that, firing full force at Dinah’s touch, and prompting heat to pool in her stomach.

“Hey”, Dinah says, sounding a bit concerned now, and Helena realizes she just is sitting here and staring, not moving a muscle, “are you okay?”

“I, um”, Helena manages, then clears her throat and pulls in a deep breath, managing to sound quite steady when she tries again, “yeah, I’m fine, sorry I just… spaced out for a bit.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re back here with me”, Dinah tells her, rubbing her arm a bit, and sending more heat into her belly, “because I wouldn’t want you to be spaced out when I do this.”

And with that, her hand moves from Helena’s arm to cup her jaw, and Helena has a second to realize what is happening, disbelief flooding her as Dinah leans in - and then Dinah is kissing her, her lips soft and warm on her own, and she can’t believe this is happening.

It takes her a second to regain her wits enough to kiss her back, and when Dinah deepens the kiss, she nearly spaces out again, she can’t recall ever having been kissed like that, with this mixture of tenderness and clear desire, and it blows her mind that Dinah would choose her for a kiss like that.

Dinah is the one to pull back again after a while, smiling at her, while Helena can only look back at her somewhat dazed; her reaction earns her a small laugh from the other woman, and she manages a smile of her own, still feeling as if someone has whacked her over the head, but in a good way.

“Still here with me?” Dinah wants to know, still smirking, and feeling a bit proud, she has kissed a few people in her life, but none of them ever has reacted like this, Helena still appearing dazed as she nods, then clears her throat, Dinah’s smile fading at what the other woman says next.

“I am”, Helena reassures her, her gaze dropping down onto her legs as she suddenly finds it hard to look her in the eye, “but… Dinah, are you sure you want this? I mean I…”

“You what”, Dinah wants to know, frowning, she has a feeling where this is going, and she doesn’t like it one bit, “what, you think this is some spur-of-the-moment idea for me and tomorrow, I’ll regret it? Because you can’t walk? You don’t think I’m that shallow, do you?”

“No!” Helena says at once, that she thinks Dinah might be shallow is certainly not what she has wanted to imply, “it’s just… I don’t know, it might not be… easy. To be with me.”

“Why don’t we figure that out together”, Dinah suggests in response, to Helena’s relief smiling again; Helena manages a nod, then is the one to lean in this time for a kiss, Dinah kissing her back at once, and for the moment, all of Helena’s doubts and worries are forgotten at how good the other woman’s lips feel on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Turns out they are dating after all. XD


	13. Chapter 13

Quite a while later, Helena and Dinah have moved from the couch to Dinah’s bedroom; Dinah has made it to clear to Helena that it’d be no problem to drive her home, but also has offered her to stay, and Helena has been more than happy to take that offer, feeling giddy at the thought of spending more time with Dinah.

So, they are on her bed now, which fortunately is big enough for two; Helena is on her back and Dinah is halfway on top of her, and they’re kissing some more, and Helena feels as if she could spend hours just doing that, kissing Dinah and running her hands up and down her back, Dinah clearly feeling similar as she makes no move to stop.

She also makes no move to take things further though, and Helena is glad about that; it has been quite a while since she has been intimate with anyone, and while the thought of being so with Dinah makes her belly clench in a good way, she’s not quite ready for it, and Dinah seems able to sense this, keeping her hands above the other woman’s clothes as they keep kissing.

“This is great”, Helena mumbles when Dinah does pull back after a while, her somewhat breathless tone making the barkeep smile; she reassures her that she thinks the same, then clears her throat as she settles next to Helena, a bit sheepish when she looks at her.

“We might wanna take a break though”, she adds, Helena giving her a questioning look and colouring at what Dinah says next, “or my self control might slip and I’ll pounce you. If I had known you’re that damn good at kissing, I would have made a move earlier.”

“I put some skill points into kissing”, Helena solemnly says, and that has to be one of the nerdiest lines she has ever uttered, but it has the desired effect - Dinah laughs heartily, and she smiles, her next words slipping out before she can stop herself.

“I love making you laugh”, she says, then blushes, not sure it has been smart to say this; Dinah’s smile widens though, and she moves one hand to grasp Helena’s, her gaze softening as she gives a gentle squeeze.

“See”, she says, squeezing Helena’s hand again, “and that is one of the reasons I like you. You’re funny, you’re kind and sweet, it’s just good to be around you. Oh, and your sexy voice and sexy arms are an extra bonus, I’ve been wondering ever since that evening in that taco place how it would feel to have those arms around me.”

“And here I was trying so hard to hide my crush”, Helena dryly comments, fulfilling Dinah’s wish at the same time by putting both arms around her, laughing when Dinah shudders theatrically, “honestly? I got my brother annoyed with me cause he said we’re going on a date, and I told him we’re not, because I was sure you’d never like me that way.”

“Well, I do like you that way”, Dinah tells her, leaning into her embrace and making her smile again, “I like you that way a lot. And hey, I was right, it does feel amazing to have your arms around me. Now if you’ll mumble in my ear, I’ll melt completely.”

“I’m not sure what to say”, Helena mumbles into her ear, snickering when Dinah shudders again; and then, Dinah moves to kiss her again, apparently having regained her trust in her self-control, and Helena is more than happy to kiss her back, feeling good and confident, better than she has in a long time.

* * *

The very second Helena wheels herself through the front door in the next morning, Pino comes bounding down the stairs, grinning and shouting “HA!”, and Helena wonders if he has been watching at the window and has seen Dinah drop her off.

_ If he has, he might have seen us kiss in the car, too _ , she realizes, but she’s not bothered by the idea; what does bother her is the smug look on his face, and she rolls her eyes as he stops in front of her, then points his finger at her, looking triumphant.

“That”, he then declares, unimpressed when he gets another eyeroll, “was a Walk of Shame. Or a Roll of Shame? Either way, ha, so much about, oh she’s not my date, we’re just friends! I knew it! I was right!”

“Yeah, okay, fine”, Helena says, rolling her eyes again, but smiling a bit now, touched by Pino’s excitement, “you were right and I was wrong and Dinah and I are officially dating now. Happy?”

“Yeah”, Pino says, his smugness fading as he bends down to briefly hug her, “very, for you. You deserve it. But you know I want to meet her properly, right? I need to make sure she’s good enough for my sister.”

“If you tell her any embarrassing stories about me, I’ll kick your ass”, Helena threatens, and Pino raises his hands and shakes his head, reassuring her he would never, “but yeah, I guess you’ll meet her, she’ll drop by here at some point.”

“Can’t wait”, Pino declares, “I’ll make sure I’ll be around. But for now I’ll leave you be, I imagine you want to shower and change into fresh clothes.”

That Helena does want, and she makes her way to her bathroom while Pino heads back upstairs, to his area of the house; and as she sits in the shower and washes her hair, she realizes how happy she is, and how good it feels to have Pino be happy for her, smiling to herself, making a mental note to thank her guildmate for inviting Dinah to the group back then on the day they have met.

She can barely believe her luck, now that she has time to think about it; not only have they hit it off in the game, but also does Dinah live close to her instead of on the other end of the world, as it might have been, and Dinah likes her back and isn’t put off by the fact that she’s in a wheelchair, hasn’t been even for a second, Helena realizes as she thinks back to the first time they have met face to face.

_ You’re damn lucky _ , she tells herself as she finishes in the shower and grabs the towel she has readied, by now quite good at doing all of this on her own even with her legs not working,  _ so you better try your best to make her happy. _

That seems like a good goal to have for this relationship to work out, and Helena finds herself smiling as she puts on some fresh clothes; and she still smiles as she wheels herself out of the bathroom and to her living room, figuring she might as well get some gaming in now, and see if Dinah is online, too, eager to spend some more time with her, both in game and outside of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, happy Helena XD


	14. Chapter 14

**Huntress has logged in.**

_ Black Canary: <3 _

_ Huntress: Aw. <3 Hi. _

_ Black Canary: Hey! Good to see you, even though I literally dropped you off an hour ago, lol _

_ Huntress: Same. Had to clean up before coming here :) _

_ Black Canary: WHAT we only cuddled innocently, did you go dirty things with someone else ;) _

_ Huntress: lol no never. But my brother caught me coming home and declared I’m doing the walk of shame or, as he put it, the roll of shame. _

_ Black Canary: omg. Poor you lol if I had known I would have come in with you to defend you _

_ Huntress: He would have teased us both then. Fair warning, he does want to meet you at some point soon. _

_ Black Canary: Fine with me :) _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Runs-With-Scissors: BG anyone? I feel like some chaosbaaaaaall _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Huntress: Yeah I’m in _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Black Canary: Me too! _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Huntress: Yay <3 I’ll protect you _

The second Helena hits enter, she realizes she has forgotten to whisper Dinah again, and has sent her message to the guild instead; she has a second to hope that maybe, it won’t be noticed, as unlikely as this seems, and her hope doesn’t last long as immediately, messages starts flooding the chat.

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Runs-With-Scissors: !!! You guys see that right _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Torbjorn Ulfricsson: did Huntress just send a <3 to you lol _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Runs-With-Scissors: omg no you idiot she sent it to Black Canary _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Rigurt the Brash: Awww, guild love! Rigurt approves _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Huntress: Guys… _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Torbjorn Ulfricsson: Adorable, you guys trade rings of Mara yet? lol _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Black Canary: Nah but you’ll be invited when we do :P _

_ [Knights of Tamriel] Runs-With-Scissors: Yay!  _

_ Huntress: Sorry about that… _

_ Black Canary: Don’t be, I don’t mind them knowing. It’s cute <3 _

_ Huntress: Pew. <3 _

“Yoooo”, Runs-With-Scissors exclaims the second the group has been formed and they have activated voice chat, “you guys! I gotta ask!”

“No, you don’t”, Helena says, trying to sound strict, but he sounds so genuinely excited and happy that she can’t quite manage it, struggling to hold back a smile when he lets out an “awwww” in response, “Canary and I are dating, yeah, but that is all you’ll get.”

“Awwww”, he makes again, sounding happier this time though, “cute! But don’t get all distracted now by that you hear, we need your skill in that battleground.”

“Please”, Helena dryly says, making the others laugh, “I’m a pro. You just make sure to not run off all on your own again.”

“I knooooow”, Scissors sheepishly says, “I just get excited. Sign us up!”

Helena has a moment to wonder when she has been made group leader, since Scissors has made the group, then shrugs it off and signs them up; and it doesn’t take long until they are in the battleground, the four of them immediately taking off and running to  where the chaosball is going to spawn, the goal of the game being to capture it and hold on to it as long as possible to collect points.

The other teams of course have had the same idea, but Helena manages to grab the desired object, and runs off with it, back to their spawn point; it does damage to the one holding it, in an attempt to keep people from just hiding out with it somewhere, but Dinah keeps healing her as she runs along beside her, and the other two keep the enemy players off her back, their points rising rapidly the longer she holds the chaosball.

“Woohoo”, Scissors cheers even though they haven’t won yet; and before Helena can scold him for perhaps jinxing it now, they get overpowered as the other teams both attack at once, and she grumbles when she goes down and one of the enemy players takes off with the ball.

“Good going so far”, Helena still says as she waits for her respawn, “we’re in the lead, let’s go get that damn ball back.”

The others are quick to agree, and get back into the fight; there’s some laughter and teasing when Dinah calls Helena “babe” one time, but it’s all good natured, and while Helena grumbles into the mic, she doesn’t really mind, it makes her feel warm inside to have Dinah address her like that, no matter how much the others chuckle and snort at it.

They manage to conquer the ball again, and to hold on to it this time until they have reached the points they need for victory; and as the game declares them the winner of the match, they all cheer, Helena smirking to himself while the game sends them out of the battleground and back into the world. 

“Good job guys”, Helena says as she checks the rewards she’s gotten, “I got the shoulder pads from that set you use, Scissors, you want those?”

“Oooh yes please”, Scissors exclaims, sounding so happy that it makes Helena snicker, “send it to me? Or you want to meet up?”

“I’m in Wayrest”, Helena lets him know, “near the shrine, so you can pick it up if you want, you know the mail system is a bit wonky sometimes.”

“Don’t I know”, the man grumbles, making the others laugh at his tone, “okay, on my way!”

Helena makes her way to the wayshrine where she knows he’ll pop out, and waits for him there; it doesn’t take long until his character appears, and he waves at her as he bounces to where she is standing, making her smile again at his insistence to use the jump button instead of walking normally.

_ Runs-With-Scissors: Found you :D _

_ Huntress: We’re still in a group, you can see me on the map _

_ Runs-With-Scissors: I didn’t look at the map though :P _

**Runs-With-Scissors wants to trade with you.**

_ Runs-With-Scissors: Thanks a bunch! Now my set is complete. _

The character does a little dance on screen, and Helena finds herself grinning, having her own do a thumbs up; with the trade done, she figures their interaction is as well, they talk sometimes in the guild chat, but hardly ever in private, so she’s surprised when the other player whispers her again two seconds later.

_ Runs-With-Scissors: Hey Huntress? _

_ Huntress: Yes? _

_ Runs-With-Scissors: I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sound as happy as today in that chat with your girl. I’m happy for you. _

_ Huntress: Thank you. _

This is unexpected, and Helena is quite glad the other player can’t see her face, as she can feel herself blushing brightly; thankfully, this seems all Scissors has wanted to say, as he gives her a thumbs up, then hops back to the wayshrine and is gone.

_ Black Canary: World Boss run in Craglorn? No way I can do those alone lol _

_ Huntress: No, you really can’t lol sure, coming _

She leaves their battleground group to form a new one with just Dinah, then ports to her; and as she waits for the area to load, she thinks back to the reactions of the others in her guild, and smiles, glad that no one has reacted badly and that those which have said something about it only have had good things to say.

She wouldn’t have let it bother her if someone had reacted badly, but she does consider many of those people her friends; and so, Helena is glad that reactions have been good, and only feels better when she arrives and Dinah is already there, her character blowing her a kiss on screen, Helena finding herself grinning like a fool as she does the same thing back.

It almost feels surreal at this point, how well things are working out, but then, she’s been through bad times in her life, so she figures she deserves some good stuff now, and is happy to accept it, all too aware of how quickly things can go bad and determined to enjoy every second of this happiness she’ll be granted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops, Helena.  
> (I can't count the number of times anymore I've sent something I wanted to send to my better half to the guild chat or even the chat of the whole map, lol)


	15. Chapter 15

Dinah feels a bit nervous as she pulls up to the house the next Friday evening, she knows it probably isn’t necessary, but she can’t help herself; Helena has invited her over for dinner, and has told her that her brother will be there, too, insisting to meet his sister’s new girlfriend, and while Dinah doesn’t worry that the man won’t like her, she does know he is protective of Helena, and doesn’t want to mess this up.

She kills the engine and pulls in a deep breath, telling herself it will be okay, before she gets out of her car and makes her way to the front door; she raises her hand to ring the bell, but the door opens before she can do so, and Helena is there, smiling at her, clearly happy to see her.

“Hey”, she greets her, and Dinah takes a moment to reply with a Hi of her own before she bends down for a short, but gentle kiss; and when she straightens up again, Helena’s brother is standing at the bottom of the stairs, his grin mirroring Helena’s, taking some of Dinah’s worries away. 

“Hi”, the younger man greets her, strolling over and holding out his hand, “Giuseppe Bertinelli, but everyone calls me Pino. Nice to meet you.”

“Dinah Lance”, Dinah tells him, even though she figures he knows her name, “nice to meet you, too, even though we have met before. Honest, I thought you’re one of Gotham’s crazies, the way you walked around the bar holding your hands out.”

“I was measuring!” Pino defends himself while Helena laughs, knowing he has done this before and knowing how absurd it looks to someone who has no idea what he is doing, “so my dear sister wouldn’t get stuck in your bar.”

“Yeah, I figured that out when I met her and realized you’re her brother”, Dinah reassures him, and he grins at her; then, he lets her know that dinner is almost ready, and leads the way to the dining room, Helena wheeling herself along behind him and Dinah walking next to her, making her smile by placing one hand on her shoulder as she moves along beside her.

“We’re having minestrone”, Pino declares as they arrive at the dining room, Helena moving to the one place which has no chair waiting and Dinah sitting down next to her, “followed by pasta Carbonara and dessert. Hope you brought a healthy appetite, Dinah.”

“I did”, Dinah reassures him, “Helena has told me that you guys tend to go quite Italian when it comes to food, so I’m prepared.”

He snickers and nods, then offers her something to drink, listing the options; Dinah takes note of the fact that none of it has any alcohol, and she wonders if alcohol has played a role in how Helena has ended up in a wheelchair, they haven’t talked about this yet and she doesn’t want to bring it up, wanting to wait until Helena is ready and will tell her on her own.

Once both Helena and Dinah have told him what they want to drink, he vanishes to the kitchen to get said drinks and the soup; and soon, they are eating and having a good time, Dinah entertaining the two with stories about the crazier patrons at the bar while Pino risks life and limb by telling an embarrassing story about little Helena, involving a bathtub, a lot of foam and a ruined carpet in the living room, unimpressed by Helena’s glare throughout the tale.

The soup is delicious, and so is the pasta and the cake Pino serves as dessert; and once they finished eating and Dinah has to fight the urge to open the top button of her pants, Pino declares he has stuff to do now and retreats to his area upstairs, both Helena and Dinah knowing what he is doing, and glad that he is giving them some privacy now.

“Guess that means I passed the test”, Dinah comments as she empties her glass, making Helena smirk and nod, “or he wouldn’t have left if he didn’t approve of me.”

“Pretty much”, Helena confirms, “but I didn’t doubt for a second he’d approve of you. Shall we move this to my living room?”

Dinah nods her agreement to that, and follows Helena as she has no idea where said room actually is; and when they do arrive there, she raises her brows, she would have been able to tell that this is Helena’s area of the house even if the other woman hadn’t told her, with the high-end gaming computer in one corner and the various memorabilia from the game here and there, posters on the wall and several collectables, among them a rare figure of one of the game’s main bad guys which makes her gasp.

“Yeah”, Helena comments as she takes note of her reaction, “I probably spend more than is good on stuff like that, but, well, I don’t have many other expenses.”

“I’m not judging”, Dinah reassures her, “I’m jealous. And hey, that makes you easy to shop for when it’s your birthday or an anniversary, I’ll just get you some game merchandise.”

Helena smirks at that and nods, then asks her if she wants another drink; Dinah shakes her head in response - before she prompts Helena to go wide-eyed as she moves and swiftly sits down on her lap, amused at how Helena’s cheeks immediately redden at the closeness, even though they have been as close before, making out on her bed.

“Is this okay?” she still asks, not wanting to hurt Helena or make her uncomfortable; Helena nods, then clears her throat, cheeks still flaming, but voice steady when she responds, her arms coming up to wrap around the other woman and making her smile again.

“Very”, Helena then reassures her, “you’re welcome to sit on me anytime.”

Dinah chuckles at that, and nods, then moves to kiss her, her hand coming up to rest at the back of Helena’s neck; she can tell that the kiss and touch do something to the other woman, and it’s the same for her, being so close to her like this and kissing her causes heat to pool in her stomach, then to sink somewhat further south, the fact that Helena’s hand slides beneath her shirt to rub her bare back not exactly helping.

“You are very comfortable to sit on”, she mumbles once they have pulled apart again, taking note of how Helena is breathing heavier, “but perhaps you should show me your bedroom, as well?”

Helena clears her throat and manages a nod, but as Dinah is literally sitting on her, she can feel her tense up a bit; not wanting her to feel pressured or uncomfortable, she’s quick to take the other woman’s face in her hands, making sure to look her in the eye when she speaks up again.

“Hey”, she gently says, taking note of how Helena swallows, either from being uncomfortable still or from the way Dinah’s palms are resting against her cheeks and jawline or maybe a mix of both, “no pressure, alright? It might be more comfortable for both of us on your bed, but we’ll do this at your pace.”

Helena nods again, relaxing visibly though - before she makes Dinah squeal by giving a powerful push before the barkeep can try to get up, wheeling both of them to the adjoining bedroom, Dinah finding herself giggling as she hasn’t quite expected that to happen.

“Okay”, she says as Helena stops next to the bed and she can get off her lap, “getting a ride like that was definitely not among the things I’ve expected to happen today.”

“Well, my sexy arms are muscular enough to wheel us both around”, Helena tells her with a little smirk, earning a nod and some more laughter; then, Dinah practically hops onto the bed and leans against the headboard, patting the blanket next to herself and raising her brows invitingly, and she doesn’t need to ask Helena twice.

Helena is still a bit nervous as she moves from her wheelchair into the bed, but she knows Dinah has meant it when she’s said there’s no pressure; and so, she gets comfortable next to her, then pulls her close and kisses her, her brief moment of discomfort puffing away into nothingness quickly when she feels Dinah’s lips on her own again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dinah got Pino-approved. Yay! XD


	16. Chapter 16

Quite a while later, Helena briefly excuses herself to the bathroom, and as Dinah doesn’t just want to lie around and wait for her to come back, she gets up from the bed again; she’s quite turned on as it is, and the movement only makes it worse, but she chides herself, telling herself to keep it in her pants, she can easily tell Helena is nervous as the thought of doing more than snuggling and making out and she doesn’t want to make this worse.

So, she looks at the bookshelf for a while to distract herself, then at the glass cabinet in the corner; that holds more collector’s stuff from the game, but also, to Dinah’s confusion, what appears to be a motorcycle helmet, one which clearly has seen better days, battered and dented and scratched up, only a few sad splinters left of the visor in the frame.

“That’s the helmet I was wearing”, Helena says behind her, making her flinch as she hasn’t heard her come back into the room, her wheelchair is impressively quiet on the carpet, Dinah realizes, “on the day I had the accident and broke my back.”

“Shit”, Dinah lets out before she can stop herself, wide-eyed when she turns to look at Helena, “ _ that _ was on your head? Holy shit Helena, you’re lucky to be alive!”

“I know”, Helena says, Dinah still looking shocked, but Helena can’t blame her, so far, she hasn’t revealed even the tiniest bit of what has happened to her, “I’ve been told, right afterwards. By the doctor who also told me I’d never walk again and by my brother, after he’d seen what had been left of my bike. But I didn’t believe them, not… not until now.”

Dinah’s gaze softens at that, and she gives her a small smile as she moves to her side, lowering herself into Helena’s lap once more and wrapping both arms around her; she kisses her as Helena returns the embrace, but it’s a different sort of kiss this time, one of quiet reassurance that she understands and that she’s there and not going anywhere.

“How long ago has that been?” she asks once they have pulled apart again, her fingers absent-mindedly playing with the hair at the back of Helena’s neck, “if you want to tell me? You don’t have to, it’s okay either way.”

“Three and a half years”, Helena tells her, and Dinah can tell it’s not easy to talk about it, a fact which only makes her appreciate it more, “it was a shitty combination of unfortunate coincidences. I got caught in the rain riding my bike, that alone would have been okay, but some drunk asshole was on the road with me and lost control of his car. He hit me, and, well…”

She can’t quite find the words to describe it, how it has felt when the car has slammed into her bike and has sent her flying; she remembers how she’s hit the pavement and the pain, so much pain, then there’s nothing for a while, until she has come back around in the ambulance.

Already there, she has realized she can’t feel her legs, and she has started to panic, but has blacked out again, from pain and shock and bloodloss; and when she has woken again in the hospital, she’s had a few blissful seconds during which she hasn’t been fully there.

“It was bad, for quite a while”, she tells Dinah, swallowing heavily, Dinah moving to rub her back reassuringly, “I just… couldn’t deal with it. Then I got super into the game, I had been playing before but after the accident, it was pretty much all I did, when I wasn’t working on my upper body strength or at physical therapy. That made it better, because there, I can run and jump and walk, and nobody sees me, they all see strong and capable Huntress, and not me.”

“I see you”, Dinah quietly says, and Helena has to swallow heavily again, “and you might not realize that, but you are strong and capable, you, Helena. You maybe couldn’t deal at first, but you’re dealing now. You’re stronger than you realize, you… you’re amazing.”

Helena has to blink rapidly to hold back sudden tears, and once again swallows heavily as there is a thick lump in her throat now; Dinah pulls her close, and kisses her again, Helena kissing her back at once, finding herself to believe everything Dinah just has said, not doubting the sincerity of her words for even a second.

* * *

Quite a while later, Dinah and Helena have moved back to the living room, snuggling on the couch now as they are watching a movie Dinah has suggested, one of her favourites; Helena actually has managed to talk Pino into giving them some of the popcorn she knows he keeps in his snack drawer upstairs, and she herself is eating sour gummi candy which Dinah makes a face at, unperturbed by the barkeep’s reaction to her snack.

“See it this way”, she says, nodding at the popcorn bowl Dinah holds, “we won’t steal each others snacks, I got no popcorn kernels in my teeth and you don’t have to make a funny face when you taste the sourness. Win-win.”

“Right”, Dinah has to agree with a small laugh, making Helena smirk again as well, “good point. I might make a funny face though when I kiss you and get that sourness from you. Just so you won’t think I’m making that face at your kissing skill.”

“Please”, Helena gives back at once, “I know I’m damn good kissing, I’d never think that.”

“Look who’s all cocky”, the barkeep comments with a small laugh, Helena smirking and shrugging, then reminding Dinah that she herself has said Helena is damn good at kissing; Dinah nods, she has said that and she has meant it, and thinking back to that makes her eager to actually get another one of those kisses.

So, she leans in and kisses her, forgetting all about the movie when Helena kisses her back at once; and it doesn’t take long until she’s in Helena’s lap again, the other woman’s arms going around her, Dinah sighing into her mouth when she feels one of her hands slide beneath her shirt again so she can rub the warm skin of her back.

“Yeah”, she mumbles once she has to pull back for some air, wondering for a moment if Helena has to struggle to not grab her butt right now, the woman is quite flushed and breathing heavily, “definitely damn good at kissing.”

“You’re quite good at it, too”, Helena reassures her, Dinah giving her a brief smirk before she kisses her again; and once again, Helena realizes she could spend hours doing this, and finds herself quite turned on, she has been worried about getting intimate with Dinah, but after what she has revealed earlier, it seems easier,  they have been close in a different way when she has told her everything about the accident and she wants to be physically close to her now.

“So, um”, she manages as Dinah pulls back again, “movie’s not done yet but... “

“Yes?” Dinah innocently asks, then moves to kiss her throat, earning a low groan which makes her smirk against the sensitive skin; Helena mumbles “unfair”, making Dinah chuckle, then clears her throat, suddenly feeling mischievous, her hand moving up beneath Dinah’s shirt until she finds her bra clasp and she opens it, Dinah pulling back with her eyebrows raised.

“Skilled fingers”, she then says, she can read the look on Helena’s face and the glint in her eyes well and figures she won’t overstep any boundaries with her next suggestion, “you want to take this back to the bedroom?”

Helena can only nod, suddenly too turned on to be coherent; still smirking, Dinah gets off her lap, and Helena is quick to move into her wheelchair, making her way to the bedroom in record speed, back on the bed not even a minute later, and Dinah is just as quick to join her.

She is also quick to kiss her again, but realizes she has to pull back again fairly soon so she can pull Helena’s shirt over her head; and when it comes off, she is both breathless and speechless for a few seconds, staring for so long that Helena starts to feel worried again after all. 

“Dinah?” she finally says, and Dinah snaps out of it, clearing her throat before she smiles a bit sheepishly and shrugs, earning a low groan from Helena when she trails her fingers over her stomach.

“Sorry”, Dinah tells her, eyes travelling over her body again, “I know you said you worked on your upper body strength and this shouldn’t have surprised me so much after seeing your arms but… wow. Did you grate the cheese for tonight’s pasta on those abs?”

Helena snorts and shakes her head, then pulls Dinah in for another kiss; and for a moment, Dinah wonders if there is anything she should keep in mind, she’s never done this with a wheelchair user before, and she’s not quite sure how to ask.

As things progress and grow heated though, she quickly learns there is nothing to be worried about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe. Fun was had.


	17. Chapter 17

A week after Dinah has met Helena’s brother, Helena in turn meets Dinah’s mother; Helena wonders if Dinah has warned her mother about the wheelchair, as the woman shows no discernable reaction to it, but on the other hand, Dinah herself hasn’t really reacted to it either, simply has treated Helena like any other person, and she must have gotten that from someone.

To Helena’s relief, Dinah’s mother approves of her, being quite straight forward about it too, telling Helena to her face that she seems like a good catch; this makes Helena blush while Dinah lets out a scandalized “Mom!”, but the elder woman is unperturbed, just shrugging at the look her daughter shoots her.

“What”, she then says, taking a sip of her coke before she goes on, “you know I never hold back. I tell you when you bring home a douchebag and I tell you when you bring home a decent person.”

“Well, I’m glad I got sorted into the  _ decent _ categorie”, Helena comments, earning a nod and smirk from Dinah’s mother; then, just like her brother when they’d been at their house, the woman excuses herself, claiming she has work to do at the bar - even though, as Dinah points out when they’re alone, it’s the one day of the week they are closed - and leaves, giving them some alone time.

“I can’t believe she’d just say it like that”, Dinah says with a roll of her eyes, taking advantage of them being alone though by immediately sitting in Helena’s lap again, she truly enjoys doing so and Helena enjoys having her so close, “but she’s not exaggerating you know, she did tell one guy I brought home that he’s a douche. I was so offended, but she was right.”

“That only makes me happier that I’ve been declared decent”, Helena lets her know with a small laugh, making her smile and nod; she steals a brief kiss, then asks if they should move this to the couch, she does like being in Helena’s lap, but she figures that snuggling on the couch will be even nicer.

“Yeah, me too”, she reassures her once they actually are on the couch, and she can cuddle up to Helena, “because I really like you.”

“I really like you, too”, Helena tells her, blushing a bit; it amuses Dinah how she still colours like that, after what they have done in her bedroom the previous week, but she finds it adorable, too, and she shows her that with another kiss, still smiling when they pull apart again.

“Tell me”, she then says, grasping her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze, “did you ever expect all of this to happen when Marzogor added me to that group?”

“Never”, Helena replies with a small laugh, Dinah’s smile widening as well, “but I’m glad it did. I’m… so much happier than I have been since the accident.  _ You  _ make me so much happier, so thank you.”

“Likewise”, Dinah says, squeezing her hand again and kissing her once more; and it’s true, Helena makes her happy, her life has been good before they have met, but it’s even better now, and she doesn’t want to imagine it without her anymore.

Helena smiles, and pulls her close again and just holds her; after the accident, she’d been fairly certain she’d never be happy again, but she is now, she’s truly happy, and she’s determined to do everything she can so that Dinah and she will be happy together for a long time.

* * *

“I’m nervous”, Helena mutters as she wheels herself into the lobby, Dinah by her side and placing one hand on her shoulder in quiet comfort, “what if they are… you know.. weirded out?”

“They won’t be, come on”, Dinah reassures her, they have had this conversation several times the past few weeks and she has said the same thing every time, “they’re our friends, they’ve known you for years. And if one of them is weird about you, I’ll kick their ass.”

Helena smiles a bit at that, then they reach the man with the clipboard in front of the hotel’s event hall; he eyes them both, sounds quite bored though when he goes through his speech, showing he has said it a bunch of times already.

“Welcome to the Knights of Tamriel meet up”, he drawls, “your character names please, you will be given badges with that.”

“Huntress”, Helena tells him, fairly certain that he’s an employee of the New York hotel where the meeting happens and not from the guild, as he shows no reaction at all; he shows just as little reaction to Dinah telling him her character name, just ticks their names off on some list and hands them the badges, both of them pinning them to their jacket.

The meeting has been planned for months now, and Helena has been reluctant at first to attend - the others of the guild know that Dinah and she are dating, but they still don’t know about her, and while she believes Dinah that it will be okay, she’s worried, too, unable to help herself.

She knows that most of the guild members are here tonight, except for a few from Europe, but most of the guild is American, and has made it here; she glances around as she wheels further into the large room, people are sitting at tables and talking and laughing, and some are glancing her way, but at least, nobody is staring, and she figures that is a good start.

A young man her age strolls by, tall and lanky and with thick glasses, glancing at Dinah and her as he walks past - only to stop and do a double take, his mouth dropping open before a wide grin forms, and when he shouts “Huntress!”, Helena doesn’t need to read his nametag, knowing at once who he is just from his booming voice.

“Oh man”, she says with a small laugh as the man comes over to clap her on the shoulder, thankfully not as hard as his character would have, “honestly? I expected the guy behind Marzogor to be a bit… well… more orc-ish.”

“My God, I’ve heard that a million times tonight”, he replies with a roll of his eyes, Dinah smirking as well as he looks nothing like the bulky, muscular orc he plays, “Scissors has been teasing me about that ever since I’ve arrived here, he’s at our table back there. Fair warning, he’s much smaller and hairier than I would have thought.”

Dinah laughs at that, and he grins at her - before he shouts for Scissors in his booming voice, making Dinah wonder where it’s coming from, the voice fits the character, but his build certainly does not.

“See”, she still says while Marzogor shouts again, sounding impatient now, “told you it’s gonna be fine.”

“Yooooo!” another familiar voice interrupts before Helena can respond, and the man with  _ Runs-with-Scissors _ on his badge is small and hairy, just as Marzogor has described him, barely taller than Helena in her chair, “Huntress! And Canary! Our guild couple!”

He holds his hands out for a high five from each of them, and grins when he gets it; then he declares that they have saved them a seat at their table, as they often play together, and Helena is relieved, as the ones from the guild she spends the most time with are not reacting oddly at all.

“Rigurt!” Marzogor booms as he leads the way to their table, the other three trailing along behind him, “Huntress and Canary are here!”

As it turns out, Rigurt the Brash looks nothing like the blonde bearded Nord the character is, played by a somewhat petite woman; that explains why Rigurt always has avoided voice chat, Helena thinks to herself, giving her a thankful look when she quickly moves the chair which has been thought for her out of the way so she can park herself right at the table.

“Hi”, Rigurt then greets them, Dinah briefly retreating to get them drinks, “I’m so glad you made it, this guild is like 80% guys, we need more ladies, especially here at this table. Scissors thinks I can burp like my character and keeps asking me to do it.”

“Scissors”, Helena says with a roll of her eyes, making the man snicker, “do I have to kick your ass in a duel again? Behave.”

“Oh God, please don’t”, he says with another laugh, thankfully tactful enough to not point out that real life Helena would have much more trouble kicking his ass than Huntress in game, “the repair cost after our last duel hurt me deeply. But one day, I’ll beat you!”

“Yeah, one day, in the year 2050”, Helena teases, and he laughs again; Dinah comes back with the drinks and sits down next to her, handing one of them to her before she grasps her hand, and Helena blushes when the other three let out an “awww” at the sight.

She’s not embarrassed for long though, she’s too happy to feel that way; she’s happy to be here now, with her friends who accept her just as Dinah has accepted her, and with Dinah, who is making her life so much better.

She’s truly happy, she realizes once again, as she often has during the past months, and as she squeezes Dinah’s hand and Dinah smiles at her, she knows Dinah is happy too, and she knows that all in her life is well and good, just as it should be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done :D Thank you all for reading, commenting and leaving kudos :)  
> (Also, Runs-with-Scissors looks like Jack Black in my mind. XD)
> 
> Happy New Year everyone - I'm gonna hang with my better half to celebrate the new year, so next story will go up in a few days :D


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